Ninja School and the True Heroes of Ninjago
by Skyla Talon
Summary: AU! A chain of events sends a couple of siblings to the Ninja Academy...as servants. However there is more to them than meets the eye, and with the search for the four ninjas that are supposed to guard the legendary green ninja, they MIGHT be the key to finding them. Too bad no one notices them. After all, it is the heroes of the country you want to hear about, not the servants!
1. A Ninja Always Respects Their Elders

Prologue: A Ninja must Respect His Elders…

 _This is Ninjago, where a school for ninjas sits atop of a mountain, looking over the entire country. Our story begins at this school during a rainy night in the middle of fall…_

The stern looking, grey haired woman that stood out in the rain glanced briefly down at her clipboard, before pushing the doorbell on the large, formidable building. A loud gong sound trilled through the air, making her jump back in surprise. Pushing her wire rim glasses up her nose she straightened her back as the door creaked open. A young man with bright orange hair and dark brown eyes was on the other side, wearing a simple gray janitor outfit. "Yes? Do you have a recommendation letter?"

She tightened her grip on the clipboard, silently reminding herself to remain professional…especially since this was just an employee here and not one of the masters or students. "Actually…I have a meeting with Grand Sensei Wu. May I come in?"

The employee blinked slowly, before ducking back inside. A minute later he reappeared. "Follow me right this way miss. He's in his office."

Her high heels clicked loudly against the marble flooring, her gaze flickering to the elaborate decorations. Apparently only the employees were awake, since she could only see people wearing gray janitorial jumpers. There were no white or black gis darting about the place going from class to class, or hurrying to training. There definitely was no sign of the famous green gi, a stab of disappointment surged through her, before she managed to push it back down. The employee stopped in front of a thick door that had gold lettering written on its sign.

"He's waiting for you, so please just go right on in." He then fled from her side, disappearing down the long hall.

Swallowing down the last of her doubts, she pushed the heavy door open and walked into the command central for all of the country's ninjas. A large antique wooden desk almost filled the entire room, though she barely noticed, her gaze landing on the man behind the desk. Anyone looking at him could understand why she felt the disappointment that now surged through her. The man in front of her was nowhere near as amazing as the Grand Sensei was supposed to be. He was old, clearly an elder, a long white beard and mustache covering his face while a straw hat covered the top of his head.

Taking a long sip at a mug of hot tea, he peered over at her, his legendary forest green eyes burning into her. "Come in, come in. I've been waiting for you, Miss Crystalla Kirstene."

Crystalla sucked in a breath, shocked that he remembered her name. "Thank you Grand Sensei Wu. It is my honor to meet you." She did a half bow to the great leader of the ninjas.

"Please, the pleasure is all mine, now then I believe that you said something about working for the Child Services?" The Grand Sensei clasped his hands together as he rested his arms on his desk.

Crystalla swallowed hard, before nodding. "Yes, I do. Which is why I came here. You see, I have been placed in charge of finding a home for a set of siblings…only they keep running away. I was wondering if you could hire them and keep them here. I highly doubt that with how many ninjas are here, both fully trained and in training, that they will be able to run away from you… I am sorry. I really shouldn't be asking this of you." She stood up quickly, distressed flooding her immediately.

The Grand Sensei waved his hand at her, interest dancing in his eyes. "No no, no need to get up. How old are the children?"

"The eldest is fifteen and the other is thirteen. It is just the two of them sir." Crystalla slowly sank back in her seat.

"I see. Typically we don't hire anyone till they are at least fifteen…"

"She's smart for her age! In the same grade as her brother, she is!" She blurted out suddenly, interrupting the well-respected and referred man in the entire country.

The Grand Sensei arched his left eyebrow up at that, before turning his attention to something on his computer screen. "Very well. Make sure that those two understand that we do provide classes for all of our employees and there will be consequences if they miss a single class."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir…you have no idea how much this is going to help me out." She bowed to him one last time.

"Yes yes, do you need someone take you to the door? I would hate for you to get lost." He turned his attention back to whatever was on his screen that was so interesting.

"I am sure I can manage sir. If not, I can ask one of the employees to show me the way." Crystalla could feel that her face was about to split open, she was smiling so widely.

"Very well then. You are dismissed." He waved her off as if she didn't just give him two extra employees.

Crystalla slipped out of the room and hurried to the large, heavy, double doors that lead to the outside….

 _I know what you are thinking. You were told that this was going to be about the heroes of Ninjago. Not a couple of employees at the school for ninjas. Well, sometimes the biggest heroes are the unsung heroes…_

 **A/N: Hello! So…yeah. Another Ninjago story! Yay me! So far we have met… a bunch of OCs that I own and Sensei Wu. Though I guess you probably can guess who the siblings are… till next time!**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	2. A Ninja Must Be Nimble

Chapter One: A Ninja must be Nimble

The dark auburn haired fifteen year old boy seating in the back of the small car ran his fingers through his already messy longish hair, a frown crossing his face. His eyes were a dark hazel, and appeared to darken even further as he noted how long they were in the car compared to the other times they've been in the exact same car. _You ok there?_ The voice was feminine, and quiet, as if she was nervous as well. The boy glanced over to his right, where a young thirteen year old girl was seating, her short cropped hair just barely brushing her chin. Her ocean blue eyes latched onto his, worry evident. The boy shook his head, automatically using their hand signal for later. The girl huffed in annoyance, before turning back to her window.

The two teens may not have looked like siblings at first glance, but those who knew them knew better than to question it. The two of them were strangely enough very similar in other ways than looks. Mainly the fact they both had the same mantra on how one should live their lives running through their minds at the oddest times. The boy reached over and tugged on his bright red sweater sleeve, a crease burrowing its way into his forehead as he allowed his thoughts to turn back to what was happening right now. They were on their way to their five hundredth foster home. Some might think that was impressive, but the two red clad teens didn't think much about it.

Crystalla, the social worker assigned to them, suddenly looked up at her rearview mirror at the two silent teens. "You guys are gonna love this place!"

"You said that about the last home." The boy pointed out drily, annoyance flaring across his features.

Crystalla flinched, before speaking slowly. "Ok… so I was wrong about the Marvellas… how was I supposed to know that they were animal obsessed?"

The two teens rolled their eyes at that, the memory still clearly etched in their minds. The Marvellas were an elderly couple that hated being empty-nesters. What no one recalled to warn the teens was that they had over one hundred pets…and no one was more important than those smelly creatures. Running away from that place had been one of the easier ones. Right next to the abusive drunk for a foster father. At least the foster mother had been decent, constantly begging him not to hurt them.

"Kai… isn't that the Ninja School?" The girl suddenly spoke up; drawing his attention away from the dark path his mind was going down.

The boy glanced out of his window and immediately….realized that she was right. _Of course you're right. It's you._ Kai felt a small smirk cross his features even as annoyance flared from his little sister. Kai examined the majestic building with anticipation, wondering if Crystalla knew about it. Turning her car off, Crystalla unbuckled and twisted around to face them. "I like to see you run away from here."

Never mind. She didn't know about it. Kai sighed, before unbuckling and climbing out of the car. "Just you watch. It'll just take a little longer than usual is all." Kai didn't miss a beat as he snarked back at her.

Crystalla sighed, silently wishing she could get inside of the teens' minds, know what it was that made them different…and oh so difficult to please enough to stay put. Breaking at a brisk walk, she led them up to the large stone wall surrounding the school. The gate itself was open and the same employee from last time was doing something with the doorbell. Upon seeing her, he nodded to the inside. "The Grand Sensei is in his office waiting for you. Do you need a guide?"

"Oh no…I believe I can find my way." Crystalla strode over the threshold, her chin held up high. She knew where she was going.

Kai slipped his hand into his back pocket, his fingers curling around it, the worn paper rubbing even thinner between his fingers. When they entered the office, he started to pull it out…only to slip it back in when the Grand Sensei spoke, standing up from his seat. "Ah. So you two are the trouble makers that I've heard so much about. Well, you're trouble making days are over with. From now on you will be working for me. Am I understood?"

Disbelief flooded Kai as he let go of the precious paper in his pocket. His eyes lightened, turning into a far more approachable shade of hazel. His sister glanced over at him, knowing why he felt disbelief flooding him. Oh, Crystalla didn't know alright. And apparently neither did the Grand Sensei by the looks of things. "Yes sir." It was his sister who spoke, for the both of them, sensing that Kai was in too much shock to voice the words himself.

"Good. Walker!" The yell was so unexpected, that his guests jumped in the air out of surprise.

Kai and his sister glanced at each other, wondering what that was about, when the door to the office opened suddenly. An employee with a shock of light brown hair that was neatly combed back and electric blue eyes glanced around the room nervously. "You called Grand Sensei?"

"Yes. These are your new coworkers. Ah, I didn't get your names." Sensei Wu glanced over at them nervously.

Kai rolled his eyes skyward, before adding a low growl to his voice. "Kai. And that's Nya." He jerked his head in the direction of his sister. She had never properly learned how to keep people at bay just by tone of voice, unlike Kai.

"Ok…my name's Jay. Come on, I'll show you were you're sleeping for however long you're planning on working here." Jay nodded his head, anxiety flaring in his eyes, fear catching in his voice.

Kai smirked, knowing he was the cause of that fear. He still followed his fellow teen out, his longer legs drawing him very close to the smaller one. A tiny squeak escaped Jay, before he sprinted down the hall, nimbly dodging everyone that got in his way.

Kai and Nya tore after him, skidding occasionally to avoid colliding in the people and items that Jay was nimbly avoiding. Part of the mantra that danced in their minds soared to the front, in the deep unfamiliar but at the same time familiar masculine voice that it always is in. _A Ninja must be Nimble_ ….

Somehow Kai had a really good feeling about being here….and he knew that Nya agreed with him too.

 **A/N: Done! Ok…so we now have Kai, Nya, and Jay. Also looks like Kai and Nya are telepathic despite the age difference. Hmm, and what is up with this mantra that just randomly echoes around their heads? And yes, the mantra is the chapter titles. So pay attention to those! I'll try and make it so that the mantra that is the current title blends into what is happening in the chapter. Also, any guesses on what Kai has in his back pocket that he wanted to hand over to Sensei?**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	3. A Ninja Must Be Able to Discern Danger

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Two: A Ninja Must Be Able to Discern Danger

Jay glanced back at the two newbies, and felt his heart sink upon realizing that they were keeping up pretty well. Technically the girl herself appeared to be nice, but her brother…Jay really hoped he never got on his bad side. Turning his attention back to where he was headed, he entered the servants quarters. Pausing he pointed to the stairwell on his right. "Umm, all female servants sleep upstairs…male servants aren't allowed up there… I'm sure _someone_ is around to show you to your room…" Jay knew he was being a little too jumpy, but seriously there was something unnatural about them… _Right. I'm one to talk. (Jay)_ Jay glanced over at Kai, his heart sinking rapidly.

 _You're one to talk about what? (Cole)_ A new, very familiar voice echoed suddenly in his mind. Jay nearly jumped out of his shoes, having forgotten that his friends could communicate to him through a strange mental bond that they had. _Nothing…get back to work. I'll be fine. (Jay)_ He nervously shoved his hands into his pockets. "Soo, um, yeah…I'm actually your roommate… do you want to see our room?"

Jay noticed the look of pure disbelief that flashed across Kai's face before he crossed his arms and glared at him. "Of course I want to see my room…shorty."

Jay winced, before hurrying down the hall. Somehow he doubted Kai was going to make their lives any easier… _Zane? Can you handle the new guy? (Jay)_ Jay pushed a plain oak door open, revealing a room with two sets of bunk beds, a large closet, and four trunks sitting on the floor. "This is our room. The top bunk on the left is yours. The empty, open trunk is also yours to hold your stuff in… umm, there is room in the closet for your hang-ups… need anything else just ask."

 _Jay? What is wrong? (Zane)_ Jay glanced at Kai, before silently responding to his friend, and thankfully roommate's, question. _The dude scares me…(Jay)_

Kai dropped his beat up red suitcase on the bed that Jay had indicated, glancing around casually. "Nice place you have here. Where's my uniform?"

Jay paled as he realized that Kai was right, his new uniform, along with his extra uniform, was not on the bed like they were supposed to be. "I…I…I…"

"It's right here. Sorry, had to get it from laundry." Another teen, slightly taller than Jay, appeared in the doorway. Like Jay, he was wearing the grey uniform of a servant here, however unlike Jay, he had black hair that was neatly combed, and dark chocolate brown eyes. Muscles showed from underneath his sleeves, indicating that instead of being fast he was rather strong.

Kai narrowed his eyes, annoyance flaring up in them. "And who are you?" His voice had reverted back to growling.

The newcomer dropped the two clean gray uniforms down on his bed. "Name's Cole. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I sleep on the bottom bunk on the right if you need anything."

Jay sighed with relief, even as Kai scowled at Cole. Apparently he did not like Cole's indifference to him. "I'll keep that in mind. There are four beds in here. Do I have another roommate that I need to be aware of?"

Jay and Cole glanced at each other, suddenly worried about if they _should_ warn him about their other friend and roommate. _Know what? You're the tour guide. You tell him. (Cole)_ Jay gulped at the silent suggestion from his best friend, before turning to face Kai. "Well, yeah…every room gets four servants in it…um… yeah, Zane is a pretty neat guy once you get to know him…but he's also kind of…"

"I have been accused of being strange in the past. I do surely hope that I do not alarm you with my little quirks." A really tall teen, he towered over Kai, slipped into the room. His snowy white hair was stiff looking, and he had icy blue eyes that appeared to be completely calm.

Kai folded his arms as he looked at him. "I take it that you are Zane?"

"Yes…I am in the bed below you." Zane pointed to the only impeccably made bed in the entire room, besides Kai's new bed.

Kai wrinkled his nose, already noting that Zane talks a smidgen on the funny side. "Great…when do I need to report for work?"

"Tomorrow morning, five minutes before breakfast. That would be about six forty-five a.m. Can you handle that?" Zane answered his question.

Kai blinked as he glanced around at the three friends. He couldn't help but notice that the other two appeared to be helping Jay handle his presence. Of course the very fact they felt that Jay needed saving from him was highly amusing. Biting his bottom lip to keep himself from laughing, he took a step back. "Fine. I'll be in here, unpacking. Now go."

Zane peered curiously at him, while Cole and Jay both sprinted out of there. Apparently Cole wasn't as cool about Kai's presence as he had acted. Kai shook his head, before jumping up onto his bed and unzipping his suitcase. "I said that you can go."

"I know that. But I sensed that you are not the threat my friends feel you are." Zane looked straight at Kai, as if challenging him to say something about that.

Kai glared at him, even as his sister contacted him. _Kai! I am out of here! No way I can stay in this…_ _ **death trap**_ _a minute longer! (Nya)_ Kai quickly reverted his gaze to the open, barely had anything in it, suitcase. _What happened? (Kai)_ He pulled out his favorite, bright red sweater.

 _My roommates decided that since I didn't have a favorite perfume…then I must try out each of their perfumes and decide which one is the best… (Nya)_ Kai nearly dropped his sweater back into the suitcase, panic slowly rising up inside of him.

 _Are you ok?! Do I need to call the doctor?! (Kai)_ He began shuffling through his suitcase, knowing that there was an old flip phone in there somewhere.

 _Hahaha, no I'm fine. I left the second they pulled their perfumes out. I probably should have a talk with them about allergies though. (Nya)_ Kai sighed with relief and stopped digging for his phone, resuming to unpacking his clothes instead. _Don't scare me like that. (Kai)_

He glanced over to see that Zane was watching him with a curious look on his face, before turning and leaving. The conversation that they had shortly before his conversation with his sister dancing in his mind. Once again a familiar but unfamiliar voice echoed through his mind. _A ninja must be able to discern danger_ ….

 **A/N: Done! Um, yeah. This morning I got up at six, almost seven which is normal on school days. Then I was too tired to actually eat anything, commented on it. And fell back asleep and didn't wake up until eleven. Which is kinda weird… I mean, I didn't stay up too late and I slept fine. I was just really tired for some reason. Anyways, please send in the reviews what you think Jay is apparently hiding from his friends!**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**

 **P.S. Am I really time travel crazy to the point that everyone thinks that my story that isn't time travel is time travel? I need to tone back on the time traveling.**


	4. A Ninja Must Rise Early

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Three: A Ninja Must Rise Early…

 _Cole flexed his arms as he watched the rockslide tumble down towards the village he was standing in front of. Lifting his left arm up, he swung it down and slammed it into the rockslide, disintegrating it immediately. A smirk crossed his face as he waved his arms in the air. The villagers standing behind him cheered his name loudly…_

" _Cole!"_

" _Cole!"_

" _Cole!"_

" _ **Cole!"**_ _Startled about the panic in that familiar voice, he spun around to see a giant boulder crashing down on top of him._

Cole screamed as he sat bolt right up, sweat beading on his forehead. Zane was leaning over him, shaking him awake. "Cole, we have a problem."

"What?" Cole rubbed sleep from his eyes as he twisted around to look at the only alarm clock in the entire bedroom. Groaning, he flopped backwards onto his pillow. "Zane…it's like four A.M….way too early to get up."

"Tell that to Kai. He's gone." Zane pointed to the suspiciously empty bed in the room. "That and I have been trying to wake you for the last twenty minutes."

"You've got to be kidding me." Cole muttered under his breath as he flung his blanket off and scrambled out of bed. _Jay, get up. The new guy flew the coop. (Cole)_

There was an audible thud as a duster fell out of the top bunk above Cole, followed by his best friend. Jay blinked rapidly, stifling a rather large yawn. "Does he even know what time it is? Wait. Didn't the Grand Sensei send him in here so that Zane could keep an eye on him being such a light sleeper as he is? Thus why Samuel was moved into a different room?"

"Yes." Zane snagged up a pair of sneakers, shoving them on. "Which truthfully is why I am surprised that he didn't wake me when he left the room."

"What are the chances that he is just in the bathroom?" Cole fumbled around his trunk, knowing he had a clean pair of socks somewhere in there.

"Already checked. He's not there." Zane yanked the bedroom door open, anxiety flooding him. He was voted employee of the month for the past seven months in a row for a reason; he was the most efficient employee at the school, no matter the job.

Jay mumbled something under his breath, yanking his worn out blue tennis shoes onto his feet. Cole waited for a second before, hurrying after Zane, Jay right behind him. Zane bit his bottom lip, not too sure where to look for the way ward teen. Kai technically didn't know the school too well, so chances of him knowing about the secret passages that crisscrossed the ancient building was highly unlikely. Besides that, when the Grand Sensei was debriefing him, he was alerted to the fact that Kai never left without his sister. Which means that they would need a place to meet up…and the only place both of been at besides the Grand Sensei's office would be the kitchen.

 _We need to go to the kitchen. Kai is most likely meeting up with Nya there. If we're lucky, she hasn't arrived yet. (Zane)_

Jay shifted slightly; worry creasing his brow as he glanced back at Cole. _Why do I get the funny feeling you want us to come with and try to keep it down so that we won't wake the others? (Jay)_

Zane nodded in confirmation, while Cole quietly groaned. There was no way they could convince teir coworkers that they weren't the three amigos if they did everything together and knew everything about each other. _Well, they don't know everything about me. (Cole)_

 _What do we not know about you? (Jay and Zane)_ Jay and Zane paused as they glanced back at him.

Cole could feel his face turn red with embarrassment, but quickly squashed it. _Nothing. Kitchen did you say Zane? (Cole)_

 _Yes. We better hurry though. (Zane)_ He hurried down the hall, leaving his friends having to run to catch up.

Several minutes later, they slipped mainly unnoticed into the surprisingly brightly lit kitchen. Kai and Nya were stretching their legs, surprise flickering in their eyes as they glanced up at them. Kai slowly inched his left eyebrow upwards. "Hey…didn't realize that you guys were early risers. I thought that was something that sis and I did."

Nya rolled her eyes, before running her fingers through her hair, as if to check that it wasn't too messy. "We typically get up this early to do a morning run or something. Depends on our mood. We haven't left yet, if you want to join us."

"Or not. We typically go by ourselves." Kai shot a glare at his sister. _What was that about?! We don't need slow moes slowing us down. (Kai)_

Nya rolled her eyes at her brother good-naturedly, before firing back her response. _Yeah…but we're not even planning on leaving here ever, which means that we might as well try and make friends for once. Trust me on this big bro. (Nya)_

Zane coughed, even as Jay nervously laughed, drawing their attention back to their surprise visitors. Jay nervously smiled at her, before nodding his head to Kai. "Soo, I take it that he doesn't scare you very easily…I mean! Um, of course he doesn't scare you…he's your brother…and um…"

Nya groaned loudly, before reaching over and hitting Kai hard in the shoulder. Kai yelped, rubbing his shoulder while shooting a glare at her. _Don't you dare give away my secret! (Kai)_ Nya crossed her arms, tilting her head towards her currently grumpy brother. "Ok whatever Kai did to make you terrified of him…ignore it. He's all bark and no bite."

 _Nya! I just said don't give it away! (Kai)_ Kai scowled at her, displeased that she actually told them that little detail. Nya shot him a look, clearly displeased with his actions. _We're not leaving here. Remember? We made that pact. Now knock it off before I give you an unplanned shower. (Nya)_

Kai shook his head at her, but didn't say anything, knowing that she did have a bite to her bark. "We were going to go for a run around the garden while we wait for six o'clock to roll around. Don't bug me and I guess you can accompany us…as long as you don't slow us down."

"We won't. Just the school grounds right?" Cole wondered if he should stretch first, even as Jay started doing so.

"Yes. figured it would be a good way to figure out the lay of the land." Nya didn't bat an eye at what she said.

 _A way to figure out the lay of the land so that you know where the best places to slip away from us are at you mean. (Cole)_ Zane reached over and gently whacked his friend on the arm. _Give them a chance. By the looks of things the girl is nice. (Zane)_

The group of five silently slipped out of the kitchen's backdoors into the school grounds, ready to start the early morning run. Kai nibbled his bottom lip as the familiar but at the same time unfamiliar voice filled his mind. _A ninja must rise early._

 **A/N: Done! Ok, so internet is down so I'll post this as soon as I can. Now not only is Jay hiding something from his friends, but Cole is too. Also, apparently Kai and Nya have no intentions on running away from the school and Nya ruined Kai's reputation of the tough guy already. But, hey. She's trying to be nice and make friends.**

 **Also, who agrees with Cole that it's too early to start the day?**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	5. A Ninja Must Protect

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Four: A Ninja Must Protect the Weak and the Strong

Kai sprinted ahead from the others, really not wanting to talk to them or anything. Nya, who usually kept pace with him fell back a bit and was jogging next to the blue clad boy that he was able to recall was called Jay. He also knew from the conversation he and his sister had before the others showed up that she liked Jay…as in really liked him.

Shaking his head fiercely, he turned his attention on his early morning run. _You better not be flirting back there! (Kai)_ He could feel himself relaxing as his feet pounded loudly on the soft, dew covered grass.

Nya scowled at his back, though he couldn't see her do that. Slowly building up speed, Nya and the others tried to catch up with Kai. Nya shook her head as she watched as the invisible burden on her brother's shoulders lifted…like they always do when he is running. A small smile crossed her face as she once again hoped that he would remember his age for longer this time around. Kai sprinted on ahead, quickly approaching the large stone wall that surrounded the property. Lifting a hand up, he jumped and grabbed the lip of the wall. Hoisting himself up, he twisted around so as to sit down comfortably on the edge. Nya nimbly followed him, the others hesitating as they paused, uncertain about this turn of events.

 _Come on. I highly doubt they would agree to let us come with if they were running away…they for sure wouldn't just stop once they are up there! (Zane)_ Zane decided to take charge and show it was alright by leaping onto the edge next to Kai. A minute later, Jay was sitting on one side of Nya and Cole was sitting on his other side.

Kai shifted slightly, not really used to having more than just Nya with him in the early morning hours. Pushing this line of thought out of his mind, he scanned the school grounds that were spread out before him. Everything clearly had a place here… and nothing was out of place. A sigh escaped him as he noted that _he_ technically was, according to Nya, out of his place. Really, it wasn't his fault that he worried about her nonstop. And it didn't make him seem older than his fifteen years! Fingers twitching, he glanced off to the right…and immediately noticed a bright light illuminating one of the many practice fields over there.

"Wait…I thought we were the only ones awake?" Kai blinked, surprise flaring up inside of him, even as his defenses slammed back into place.

Nya sighed, having noticed that he had raised his defenses already. Zane glanced over at where he was pointing, before speaking up. "That would be the first class of the day for the Ninjas. I am not entirely sure why they have to get up this early, though I am sure it has to do with their mantra."

"Can we go over and watch? It might be interesting." Nya asked as she braced herself to jump back down.

Zane shrugged as he leaped down easily. "Of course. There is no rule saying we can't watch the classes during our free time and technically this is our free time."

Kai sprang down swiftly, his feet lightly landing on the ground in front of him. "Let's go if we're gonna go do it." He grumped as he swatted imaginary dust from his jeans.

Zane sighed as he wondered if they will ever make any breakthroughs with Kai. The lack of batting of the eye from Nya told him that it was pointless to try. _Don't bother Z. We have other things to deal with than whether or not Kai thinks we're friends and not the enemy. (Cole)_ Cole leaped down from his perch, Jay right behind him.

Zane frowned, before shaking his head and following his friends. _We should at least try to gain Kai's trust. (Zane)_ Cole and Jay glanced back at him, uncertainty in their eyes. None of them have ever tried to make friends outside of their little group…and truthfully didn't really want to do so. They were safe and content with just the three of them; purposefully enlarging their little group didn't exactly make any sense…especially since they've chased away anyone else that might have been a potential friend already.

Kai turned around to face them, a frown on his face. "Everything ok back there? Cause looking at the time we only have a few minutes before we need to head back and get ready for work."

"We're fine." Zane, Cole, and Jay spoke in perfect unison.

Nya arched an eyebrow upwards in surprise, having believed that she and Kai were the only ones who spoke in unison occasionally. Shaking her head, she sprinted up ahead, figuring Kai and the others would follow her.

Kai shot after his sister, even as he wondered why he even cared that the others were being slow. Really, he didn't need anyone except his sister. Those three should just give up on him right now. They weren't going to be friends. It just wasn't possible. Friends equal ties to a place and that was a weakness that must be avoided. Shaking his head fiercely, he caught up with her and paused as he looked down at the large practice field.

There were at most a thousand ninjas, both the black gis of a student and the white gis of the Masters, filled the view. Kai felt his heart pound loudly as he watched as weapons, hundreds of them, flashed in and out of view. The sound of clanging metal filled the air, somehow coming across as comforting to the teen. Frowning to himself, he watched as they continued training with the weapons…only for a shout to come from one of the Masters.

"Switch out your weapons!" This was followed by rustling as the students hurriedly swapped their current weapon out for a new one.

Zane hummed as he came to stand next to Kai. "They switch out the weapons only because not only are they training in their weapons, but they are looking for the four."

"Hold on…you don't mean that as in the Four that were prophesied about. The ones that will protect the legendary green ninja?" Kai blurted out, his mind latching onto that information.

"Yes. According to the prophesy when they touch the weapon that they specialize in it will turn into gold. So far no luck in that." Zane sighed as he scanned the area for any glint of gold amongst the silver.

Kai frowned as he looked down at the training assembly. "Have they found the Legendary Green Ninja yet?"

Cole shoved his hands into his pocket, his gaze on the crowd below them. "Oh yeah. It's the Grand Sensei's nephew. Nice kid. Not quite ten yet though. He'll start his training later this year."

Kai hummed in understanding, his gaze moving to a small figure on the edge of the field. The child wasn't dressed like a ninja, wearing a bright green sweater and jeans, and yet, there was something about him that drew his attention….made him want to protect the child from harm…

 _A Ninja Must Protect the Weak and the Strong._

Of course what Kai didn't know was that his roommates knew who the child was and felt the same urge to protect him….

 **A/N: Done! Um, yeah. Hold on a sec, forgot to mention this chapter's mantra in here…there! Um, yeah. Four certain servants feel the urge to protect a certain kid…and we all know who that is, right? I made it as obvious as possible. Hmm, yeah. I have to go pester Angel on what's for lunch, so see ya!**

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 **SkyTalon**


	6. Sometimes Ninjas need Friends

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Five: Sometimes Ninjas need to remember that they need friends…

Kai crossed his arms as he stared blankly up ahead, not touching the piece of paper in front of him. Zane shot him a concerned look, not necessarily liking Kai's blatant attitude towards the class. Nya was darting down notes as quickly as possible, soaking up the knowledge that the math lesson will give her. Jay was also writing down notes in the same fervor that she was while Cole stared blankly at the teacher, his pencil sketching something out on the paper. The class itself consisted of over two hundred employees ages fifteen through sixteen. Kai stifled a yawn as he closed his eyes, deciding that a nap would be good.

 _Kai pay attention. You might actually learn something that way. (Nya)_ Kai rolled his eyes, not wanting to get into this particular argument with his sister again. _Not now sis… (Kai)_

 _Here we go again… (Nya)_

Jay glanced over at where Nya was hard at work with the assignment that the teacher just gave, before turning his attention to Kai. _I don't think Kai likes learning new things. (Jay)_

 _Jay…the only people who like school are weirdos like you. (Cole)_ Jay shot a glare in the direction of his best friend.

Zane shifted in his seat, his gaze finding each of them easily. _Now is not the time to cause a drift between you two. Besides that, I suspect if we work hard to befriend Kai then they won't attempt to runaway. (Zane)_

 _Class is almost over with and Kai hasn't picked up his pencil once! And if we don't do the work in class we have to find time during the day to do it…as well as two extra problems per unfinished one! That would be a total of fifty for Kai if he doesn't do anything! (Jay)_ Jay fretted in his seat, having already finished the assignment. Glancing over at Kai, he was surprised to see that he was watching the clock closely. The second the clock announced only one minute was left in class; Kai picked up his pencil and quickly scribbled something out on the paper.

He dropped said pencil, with a smirk on his face, the second the bell rang and Ms. Guro turned to face the class. "Please hand in your assignment. If you haven't finished then take it with you and add two more problems to each incomplete one you have left to do. Page sixty in the textbook."

Kai handed in his assignment, completely ignoring a glare being sent to him by his sister. Turning, he briskly walked away, not bothering to look back.

…..

Zane hummed softly as he cleaned the silverware, aware that Kai was drying the dishes, while Jay and Cole both polished them to a shine. Nya was sweeping nearby, her feet tapping softly against the ground as she twirled with the broom. The kitchen door creaked open as a familiar small figure slipped in.

"Hey Zane, Cole, Jay. Who's the new kids?" The young boy from before hopped onto the counter, his legs swinging carelessly.

Zane titled his head to the side as he nodded to Kai. "Kai, Nya, meet Lloyd. Lloyd this is Kai and Nya. A brother sister duo that has quite the history with running away."

"Heard that. Wait, you're too young to be here." Kai glanced over at the kid, puzzled by his presence.

Lloyd shrugged as he watched them work. "I'm the green ninja of legend. Give me a few months and I'll start training."

"That's insane!" Nya yelled, staring shocked at the young boy. Kai glanced over at her, his eyes narrowing dangerously. _Nya!_ _(Kai)_ Lloyd shifted slightly, barely able to hide the fact that he had heard Kai yell his sister's name, despite the fact his lips didn't move. Nya glanced back at him, her nose wrinkling. "I knew that Cole said something about the green ninja not being ten yet…but I didn't realize that you were already living here."

Lloyd shrugged, even as he wondered if the friends could mentally communicate with the siblings. Pushing that thought to the back of his head, he grinned as he reached over and grabbed an orange sitting in a bowl of fruit on the counter. "Soo, what's been going on with you three?"

Zane shrugged as he handed Kai another spoon to dry. "Nothing much on my part."

Cole shrugged as he placed another neatly polished fork back into the drawer. "I probably should write a letter to my dad sometime today…"

"Does he still think you are at that performing arts academy?" Lloyd questioned quickly, recalling past conversations with the friends.

Cole nodded glumly, even as Jay leaned over to pick up a knife that needed polished. "I'm working on a new invention!"

Kai froze, a single thought crossing his mind. _Shouldn't have said that with Nya around… (Kai)_ Nya snapped her head up, surprise flaring in her eyes. "You invent in your spare time too?"

Jay widened his eyes in surprise, before turning his entire attention to Nya. Kai banged his head against the counter, muttering under his breath about losing Nya for the rest of the day.

Lloyd sniggered; finding the reason Kai would mentally say something about mentioning inventions around Nya on the funny side. Kai glanced over at the kid, his tough guy façade vanishing as his eyes softened. "Soo, what are your plans for the day kiddo?"

Lloyd frowned, annoyance flaring in him. "My name's not kiddo. It's Lloyd."

"I know. But I think kiddo fits you." Kai tried to concentrate on what he was doing, though more curious about the young ninja of legend.

Lloyd eyed him for a few seconds, before speaking up. "My lessons of course. I mean, there is a comic book that I am highly interested in but since it is not per se needed for my knowledge that would be fanciful wishing."

Kai slipped, his eyes flashing. "You're a kid. You're life shouldn't revolve around _lessons_."

Lloyd and the friends sniggered at that, glancing at each other. Cole slipped over to clap a hand on Kai's shoulder. "That's where we come in. Ya see, we've made it our personal mission to ensure that the kid has some memorable memories of his childhood…"

"He totally pranked us good just last week!" Jay interrupted, bouncing with excitement.

Zane wryly shook his head, before shooing everyone back to work. "Back to work guys… I'm sure Lloyd will continue talking to us even if we don't give him our undivided attention."

"Aye aye Captain!" Kai mocked as he mocked saluted Zane before going back to drying the dishes.

Nya shot Kai a surprised look, before going back to her sweeping. Chances where that the others didn't even know what Kai mocking Zane meant…to her though, her heart soared with joy over it…

 **A/N: Done! Ok, so I changed my mind about how the chapter titles are gonna go. Instead of all of them being the Ninja Code for this story, some of them will be the code and the rest will be things that ninjas typically forget about because they concentrate on the code so much and they need it for their mental/emotional health. If it starts with** _ **SOMETIMES**_ **it is something ninjas struggle with. If it starts with** _ **A NINJA**_ **it is the Ninja Code. Just so ya know. Hmm, I wonder if any of you know what Kai mocking Zane means…and if you caught on to the fact despite his rude behavior, this is the first time he actually** _ **mocked**_ **someone.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	7. A Ninja Must Be Able to Communicate

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Six: A Ninja Must Be Able to Communicate Clearly…

Kai pulled his covers off as he slipped quietly out of bed. His feet dangled precariously over open air briefly, before he jumped down to the floor. Rolling silently, he sprang lightly to his feet careful not to wake his roommates. Walking over to the closet, he opened it and grabbed his favorite red sweater. Yanking his pajama top off, he pulled the sweater on. Turning around to get into his trunk, his eyes landed on Zane. Hesitating for the slightest minute, Kai debated on whether or not he should wake his fellow teen. After an inner-debate with himself, he walked over and shook Zane awake.

"Wha…? Kai? What is it? Is there a fire!?" Zane bolted upright, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

Kai's eyes widened in surprise, wondering how it was that _he_ knew. Only Nya knew about it! Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind, he concentrated on his task at hand. "No. I'm getting ready to meet up with Nya for our early morning exercises. Did you want to come with?"

Zane collapsed back onto his pillow, relief, and a smidgen of curiosity flashing across his face. "Do you do this every morning?"

"Yes. Course we, uh, change the exercises each morning. We typically only run on Saturday and Sunday. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we know self-defense and we practice that on those days. Tuesday and Thursday we do yoga." Kai eyed Zane, curious to know what it was that he would do with this information.

"Yesterday was Tuesday. You went on the run though." Zane blinked, trying to wrap his mind around that.

"As Nya said, it was a good way to get a feel for the land, unlike what Cole said about us looking for an escape route. We typically wait a few days before we start doing that. We were scouting out a good place to do our exercises. Are you coming or not?" Kai was starting to get impatient.

Zane froze, realizing what Kai said meant. Pushing this to the back of his mind, he answered his question. "I think that I will sleep through this time around. Maybe another time."

Kai nodded, before opening his trunk and pulling out some red workout sweats. Glancing back up at Zane, he rolled his eyes upon seeing that he was already back asleep. Some people couldn't handle early mornings like they could. Finally dressed, he pulled his sneakers on and headed out the door.

The second the door closed behind him, Zane got up and sprinted to Cole's bed. Shaking his friend, he began muttering under his breath. "Cole! Come on, wake up…we have a mega emergency!"

Cole groaned as he rolled over to look blearily at him. "Zane…do we need to get Jay up too? Cause if not, I am rolling over and going back to sleep."

"Seeing has Kai can hear us when we are _mentally_ communicating to each other… _ **YES!**_ " Zane yelled the last word so loudly, that Jay for once was startled out of his sleep and fell out of bed…this time he was cuddling a shoe in his sleep.

Cole arched an eyebrow up as he stared at the shoe. "Jay isn't that my shoe?"

Jay stifled a yawn as he glanced down at what he was holding. "Uh…it is. Sorry about that Cole. And why in the world are you yelling Z!?"

Zane sighed as he sank down on his bed. "Ok…you remember how we were mentally communicating yesterday morning to discuss the whole what to do if they are attempting to runaway scenarios? Yeah…apparently Kai heard us, at least he heard Cole, loud clear."

"What!?" "But that means… I am not telling him that he can hear our thoughts!"

Zane sighed, wondering if he should be concern and not amused that their reactions were exactly like he expected them to be. "If Kai heard us, well, Cole, chances are that he can do it as well…"

"And Nya." Jay interrupted suddenly, a look of understanding crossing his face. The others gave him a weird look, prompting him to explain. "Back in class yesterday, I was confused because not only were we getting away with talking since it was just all mentally, but Kai and Nya were talking too and the teacher never noticed! They must have been doing it mentally like we were and we just didn't notice."

Zane groaned, as why they never seemed to alert adults to their plans to run away clicked in his head. "That is how they keep running away without anyone knowing. They just discuss it in their minds." Zane tapped his finger against his knee, his mind latching onto a small detail. "We need to tell them about us…and how we know about them. If they discuss a plan on how to runaway and we stop them, it's going to really confuse them."

"Um…yesterday morning, remember? They were talking and I bet with something that they said that it was a, uh, silent conversation between them." Cole fidgeted slightly. Zane gestured for him to continue. "Right…uh, Nya said something about how the two of them weren't ever going to leave this place… which kinda sounds like all that running away was just so that they could get here."

"But why would they want to come here?" Jay frowned, worry creasing his brow.

Cole and Zane glanced at each other, not sure how to respond to that. All of the servants had a back story on why they were here…most of which, including Jay, could be pretty summed up into one reason. Their families needed the extra money. Jay truthfully was only here to help his parents out with their money troubles. Of course, Zane's story was that he is the son of the old head scientist for the ninjas, though after his father's death he had to start providing a way for him to life…and eventually came here. No one knew for sure why Cole was there, and truthfully no one wanted to question it. Not only was he strong, but he was a hard worker.

The door creaked open suddenly as Sensei slipped into the room. Upon seeing the three friends up and Kai gone, panic flooding his features. "Where is Kai?!"

"Relax…he is still on the grounds. He woke me up to tell me where he was going what it is he is doing. Apparently Kai and Nya like to get up early in the morning to do some early morning exercises. We went with them yesterday and I didn't see the point to go with them today so I told Kai we would just wait here for him." Zane waved off the elderly man's fear, even as he decided to test out this whole the siblings are like them issue they were discussing. _Kai? The Grand Sensei is here and concerned that you are not? Can you cut your exercise off early and come back to calm his fears? (Zane)_

Silence fell as they kept a steady eye contact with Grand Sensei Wu, nervously waiting for Kai to respond. Finally, someone responded tensely to Zane's question. _We are on our way… (Nya)_

All of them just about jumped when a voice they didn't recognize, though later they will learn that the siblings here it a lot, rippled through their minds. _A Ninja Must Be Able to Communicate Clearly…_

 **A/N: Done! So…yeah… a little sooner than what I was planning… but hey! Sooner or later they were going to find out! Man I can't wait for them to discover that it is the same way with Lloyd! I mean, think about how much fun they can have fun with this! Um, yeah. I am calm now. Sorry about last chapter not having the mystery voice… but friendships was not something that the mystery voice ever thought about…and they need that for what is coming.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	8. A Ninja Must Be Serene

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Seven: A Ninja Must Be Serene….

Zane slipped the clean, polished forks into the drawer, a frown on his face. "You really shouldn't have scared Grand Sensei Wu like that. He honestly thought you had runaway this morning!"

Kai shook his head as he wiped the counter down. "I said I'm sorry. What else do you want from me?"

Jay and Cole both winced, not really wanting to get in between the ongoing argument between the other two. Zane turned to glare at Kai. "Maybe try not to do these so called morning exercises so early. We have free time for that kind of thing!"

"Maybe we like to get up early to do them!" Kai snarled back as he turned to glare at Zane.

Nya suddenly snapped, pushing the two bickering roommates apart. "Enough! We shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves. Especially since we all have a small dilemma that we need to take care of first…unless I am the only one interested in the elephant in the room." She glared at them harshly, Kai shrinking from her gaze instantly.

Jay scratched the back of his neck, worry creasing his brow. "What elephant in the room?"

All eyes rolled upwards, before Kai swatted him in the back of the head. "It's just an expression. It means a topic that no one wants to discuss but needs to be. In this case, the fact we can all apparently communicate telepathically with each other."

"Oh…" Jay shrunk back, not really wanting to discuss that just yet.

Cole scoffed as he went back to scrubbing a burnt pot clean. "There's nothing to discuss. We can't talk privately without you overhearing us, and you two can't talk privately without us overhearing you. End of story."

"Really? No one is interested on why we can do this?" Nya frowned, her fingers twitching as she cleaned up some spilt milk.

"We don't need to know!" Cole snapped as he leaned over the pot he was scrubbing.

Nya straightened up as she crossed her arms in front of her. "What if knowing why allows us control? We can block people from conversations if we have control of the situation."

Silence fell as everyone pondered that. It would be nice not to worry about whether or not someone could hear them when they are silently communicating. But still… Zane shook his head as he went back to work putting the clean dishes away. "I am not entirely sure that knowing why will help us at all. I am sorry Nya."

Nya sighed, before finishing her task and leaving the room. Kai watched her out of the corner of his eye, worry wiggling inside of him. A sigh escaped him as he finished with his task, and then leaned against a table to watch the others work.

"Soo, I get the feeling you all know why I'm here, but I don't know any of your stories." Kai crossed his arms as he looked at each of the friends.

Zane shrugged, not seeing the big deal. "My father worked closely with the ninja up until his death. I needed something to do, both as a way to keep me busy and to pay my way in the world so coming here to work made since." He paused and glanced over at Kai, noticing his confused expression. "My father was Dr. Julian. Former head scientist for the ninjas."

"Oh." Kai wrinkled his nose, before turning to face the other two. "What about you two?"

Jay bit his bottom lip, before answering slowly. " _Weeelll_ , you see my folks are really poor and we recently ran into a whole bunch of medical problems which just made huge hospital bills which they can't afford. So I'm here to help pay them off."

Cole scoffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Zane rolled his eyes, before explaining the situation to Kai. "No one knows why Cole is here. He just is. Doubt he'll ever tell anyone."

Kai nodded before pulling something out of his back pocket. "I don't remember where we got these…or who gave them to us. But, it's the real reason we're here." Kai tossed two old envelopes onto the table.

Jay felt his jaw drop to the ground as he stared at the two letters…very important letters. "Those are recommendation letters to get into the school…as _students_."

Zane pulled them closer to himself, quickly examining them. "Legit too. So why are you two hanging around with us? You can hand these in to the Grand Sensei and he'll have to take you on as students."

Cole groaned as he rubbed his hand over his face. "Oh come on. You guys make me look like a wimp."

"Wait…what? Cole, you are no wimp." Kai frowned, confused by what Cole meant by that. A quick check with the other two revealed that they were also confused about what he meant by that.

Cole sighed as he leaned backwards against the bar. "You all are here because of circumstances at home and a roundabout way to respond to some recommendation letters. I'm here cause I got in a fight with my old man and ran away here and told him that I was attending the school he wanted me to attend. I have him fooled into thinking he ran the fight when really, no one won. I'm not doing what I wanted to be doing, and I'm not attending that school."

"Oh…I didn't realize that you didn't get along with your old man…" Jay shifted slightly, looking highly embarrassed.

Cole shrugged before tossing the sponge he was using back into the sink. "Well, I'm done here. What about the rest of ya?"

Nods rippled through the group as they got up to leave. Zane clapped his hands together, excitement gleaming in his eyes. "I feel that today is a pristine day for mediation. Does anyone want to join me?"

"Nope." "Sorry Z, maybe later." "I have to go check on my sister."

Zane shrugged, having expected to be rejected by the others. Not everyone likes to mediate….

 _A Ninja Must Be Serene…._ Kai paused as the unfamiliar, but somehow familiar, voice rippled through his mind. He stumbled suddenly as Cole flung an arm around him, nearly knocking him off balance.

The voice must be mistaken. There was nothing serene about this group… after all; Kai knew something that Nya didn't even know. The voice mentioned the telepathy once before, and that it meant something very special. And somehow the Ninja Code of Honor was related to that. He just needed to figure out how it was related…

 **A/N: Done! Um, yeah. That just happened. And Kai knows more than the others…he just doesn't know exactly what. (I bet you all know what it is though!) And now you all know why they aren't running away from here…they have recommendation letters. So, they have what is needed to be students at the Ninja School, but they are just staying where they are as staff members. Don't ask why. I need to figure out the why before I can answer that.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	9. Sometimes ninjas need to work as a team

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Eight: Sometimes Ninjas Need to Work as a Team…

Kai dug through his belongings till he came upon an old, beat up, nondescript, gold with green highlights book. Pulling it out, he carefully flipped through the pages. A frown crossed his face as he, not for the first time noticed the pictures and writing that filled the pages…only when he reached where the pages were supposed to end, new pages magically appeared. Kai furrowed his brow in thought as he stared at the picture of him meeting his roommates… flipping the page he found himself looking at a new drawing of them attending class. More new pages showed them doing the morning exercise together, cleaning the school, even what they did in their free time. Kai shook his head as he came to the last page. Technically all of the new pages appeared between the last page that covered the past, and the actual last page….which showed something that definitely hadn't happened yet.

It showed _six_ ninjas, all of whom were wearing different colors, powers blasting forth from five of them to the sixth. Sixth one was wearing a green gi, meaning that it must be the kid. The white ninja had ice shooting out of his hands, while the red ninja next to him had fire. The blue ninja had lightning, while the black ninja had earth. The last ninja, who sported two colors, red and blue, was spraying water out of her fingertips. Words curled over the page, making Kai feel his heart thud loudly as he stared at it. _True Potential will be Unlocked When the Powers of the Guardians Converge_. The green gi in the picture slowly turned gold, before turning back to green. Shaking his head, Kai slammed it shut. He wasn't sure why he had that book. He vaguely remembered the voice telling him to guard it with his life once, something about it being important…for all of Ninjago.

"Hey! Kai? Wanna join us in a quick game of team tag?" Jay stuck his head in the room. "It will be us against a few other workers. Zane, Cole, and Nya have already agreed to be on my team. And I need one more player."

Kai glanced at the other teen, before glancing down at the book in his lap. Shoving it back into his suitcase, he quickly buried it once more. "Sure…only cause Nya is playing." Kai added to clarify the situation, needlessly.

Jay nodded fervently, a grin on his face. "Of course! I wouldn't have it any other way!"

….

Zane was perplexed on why Kai would agree to the game. Really the only reason why he agreed was because he knew Jay wouldn't stop pestering him until he said yes. At the moment, the two teams were lined in the school gardens, making note on who was on which team.

Lloyd was acting as the referee for the game, bouncing slightly as he looked between the two teams. "Alright. You all know the rules. If someone on the other team tags you, you are frozen until a team member tags you back. Then you are in the game again. Don't forget it! You cannot speak aloud to draw your teammates to you. Do that and you both will be out of the game." Lloyd paused, glancing over at the other team. "Uh…I know that the rules state that you need at least five players to play…but seriously? _Ten_? Cole's team only as the minimum of five!"

The opposing team shrugged, a grin crossing their faces as they eyed the much smaller team up and down. "It'll be a quick game then."

 _Quick because the rules don't technically say anything about mentally communicating. Only say that we can't speak aloud. Besides that, Jay and Nya are both fast. You two can lead them right into traps. If someone gets tag, tell us the location and someone will come get you as soon as possible. (Kai)_

Zane started; surprised that Kai had a point. The five of them did have an unfair advantage over the others. _Especially with my special ability… (Zane)_ _Zane? What special ability? (Cole)_

 _Nothing! (Zane)_ Zane shifted as he stared straight ahead. Lloyd dropped his arm down, a huge grin on his face. "Go!"

Instant scattering. Zane slid into position behind a tree, a huge grin on his face. _I am in place. (Zane, Cole, and Kai)_

 _On it. (Jay and Nya)_

Zane didn't have long before Jay came sprinting past him, two members of the other team right behind him. Leaping out of his hiding spot, he quickly tagged both of them. "Tag! You're frozen!"

Gasps of surprise tore from them as they gawked at Zane, who then slid back into his hiding place. "I'll stay here and tag anyone that tries to unfreeze them."

"Oh good. I'm gonna go see if I can't lead a couple to Kai." Jay tore off again.

Zane leaned against the tree he was hiding behind. A smile crossed his face as he vaguely paid attention to the update that was occasionally given. _Ok…we only have one more to go! Then we win the game! Nya, Jay? How are things going? (Kai)_

 _I'm frozen by the fountain. (Jay)_

 _I've been tagged too. Over by the apple orchard. (Nya)_

Zane frowned, worry creasing his brow. _I believe that he is trying to get us to leave our posts. Which means he has realized our plan and thinks that if he can get to one of our traps while it is unguarded that he can free the others. (Zane)_

 _I think you're right. Does anyone want to volunteer to get them, or do we stay put? (Kai)_

 _Stay put. Until one of you sees him, then tell us and the rest of you can come get us. (Nya)_

 _Sounds like a plan. (Zane, Kai, Cole, and Jay)_

Zane leaned against the tree again, watching his clearly frustrated prisoners. After awhile, Kai's voice screeched through his mind. _I've got him! Go! Go! (Kai)_

Zane tore off, his feet pounding the ground, thought no noise rose from them. _I'll get Nya. I am the closest to her. (Zane)_

 _Ok, guess that leaves me to get Jay. (Cole)_

Zane hummed in agreement, before sprinting straight up to Nya. He gently tapped her on the shoulder, before turning and sprinting to the middle of the garden again. When he got there, Lloyd was grinning from ear to ear, while Cole and Jay stood waiting for them. When they arrived, Kai slipped out of the east side of the garden, looking pleased with himself. "Consider him tagged."

Lloyd cupped his hands around his mouth, to help carry his voice through the large garden. "Everyone back to the start! Team Cole has won the game!"

Immediately, the ten coworkers that they were playing against came into the clearing. Protests escaping them. "They cheated! There is no way that they could possibly have known that those two were tagged…or that Jimmy was near Kai when they did! It's not possible!"

Lloyd rolled his eyes skyward, before speaking to them. "I was paying attention just so you know. And they did not cheat." A knowing look flashed briefly across his face, before he continued speaking. "It was just pure coincidence that Zane and Cole had taken off to see if Nya and Jay had been tagged while Kai was in the process of tagging Jimmy." Lloyd smirked, technically he knew the truth, but the others still didn't know that he knew.

Grumbling to themselves, they scattered to go back to their various chores and homework assignments.

Lloyd shook his head as he watched them leave, before speaking directly to Kai. "By the way, using your ability to communicate telepathically was pure genius. You never once technically broke the rules. Now if you please excuse me…I need to do my math homework." Lloyd strolled off, leaving the five pale with shock.

"I did not see that coming…" Kai whispered as he gawked at the kid.

 **A/N: Done! Um, yeah. That just happened. And what is that book Kai has that the voice apparently gave to him? And can anyone tell what that last picture was of? And now they know that Lloyd knows about that…of course they still don't know that, well, technically Lloyd doesn't even know…but yeah. Lloyd can talk telepathically with them as well. He just hasn't figured that out yet. *sniggers at the panic that will cause…***

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 **SkyTalon**


	10. A Ninja Must Be AwareOfTheirSurroundings

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Nine: A Ninja Must Be Aware Of Their Surroundings…

Lloyd sprinted to the abandoned training grounds, knowing full well that he would find them there. Sure enough, once he entered into the arena like outdoor classroom, he spotted Zane cleaning a pile of old rusted scythes while jay was carrying a pile of swords over to where Nya was at. Cole was wiping a dagger clean, a mismatched pile of shruikens and daggers by his feet. Kai was cleaning the nunchucks and staffs; his clothe rubbing the worn metal carefully.

Lloyd walked over and plopped down next to Zane. "Hi."

"Hi?!" All of them screeched as they turned to look at him incredulously. Kai took a deep breath, before saying exactly what was on everyone's mind. "You don't drop a bomb like that and then just leave! We need to discuss this…like in who else knows about it?!"

Lloyd ducked his head in shame, before speaking up softly. "None of the adults know. Trust me. I already talked to them, forming it as a hypothesis and they said it wasn't possible. I dropped it after that."

Kai groaned loudly, before turning to face his sister. _Can I please? (Kai)_

Nya gave her brother a deadpan look, even as Cole crossed his arms. "Can you please do what Kai? And why are you asking Nya for permission?"

"Nothing!" "Nothing! Especially since my answer is no." The siblings spoke in perfect unison.

Kai mock pouted at his sister's answer, before turning back to work. Before Lloyd could ask what they thought that it was, Kai's backpack, which he had for some unknown reason brought with him, was knocked over as Jay tripped over it. Which would have been fine expect for the fact that a certain book fell out of it when that happened. Kai froze as he realized that it appeared to have a page near the back of the book that was glowing…which he knew meant that a new page was arriving.

Zane stood up as he walked over to it. "What is this?"

"What does it look like? It's a book." Kai ducked his head, in hopes of hiding his nervousness. He was supposed to protect but seeing as he was never told from what, he didn't like the idea of others, even Nya, knowing about the magical book.

Zane started to open the book to see what the glowing page was about, experience told Kai that it was probably the conversation that they just had or something extremely important that was about to happen that would be more beneficial for them to know about ahead of time. He hoped it was just the former and not the latter. A scream suddenly tore from Lloyd, causing them to whip around to where the boy was sitting.

A group of bounty hunters were surrounding the kid, one of them holding him by the hair. "Don't raise the alarm until after we leave and we'll go easy on you…" _I think not! (Nya)_ Nya suddenly dove for the daggers Cole was cleaning, snagging up a pair instantly. Shock briefly flashed across her features, too quick for those who didn't know her to see, as both of the blades turned gold in her hands. "…Gah! That one is one of the Guardians in disguise!" The leader stumbled backwards, yanking Lloyd by the hair after him.

Lloyd cried out in pain, which was all that was needed to spur the others into action. Zane seized a couple of shruikens, his face blank as if it were normal for them to turn gold on him. Cole grabbed a scythe, ignoring the way it again turned gold by his touch, while Jay grabbed and swung a pair of now gold used to be normal metal nunchucks at them. Kai rolled his eyes as he reached for the swords. _Of course…I'm the only one that isn't a…_ (Kai) he picked up a sword, watching it as it also turned gold. _Guardian… isn't it supposed to be four guardians? (Kai)_

He darted forward, randomly swinging his weapon of choice. He didn't need to look to know that none of them actually knew what it was that they were doing. _I have thought over the prophesy about a million times before…and I just did so again. It technically never said the number of guardians. We have always presumed that it was referring to four because the ripped picture that is at the bottom of the scroll shows four wearing different colors than the green that the green ninja wears. (Zane)_

Kai felt his heart sink, as his mind caught a hold of that even as he turned to face the book that was still lying in the trodden down grass by his backpack. _Wait…a_ _ **RIPPPED**_ _picture? (Kai)_ Kai decided to ignore logic and sprint to the book, snagging up it up into his hands. Opening it to the last page, he stared down at the picture of the six ninjas again. The position of them all was that were it would be easy to remove one of the others along with the green ninja. _This is really bad… (Kai)_

Just then, pain erupted in the back of his head as he dropped the sword, not the book for some reason, everything going black…

….

Kai winced as he slowly blinked his eyes open, pain pounding in the back of his head. He appeared to be in some sort of cage, his hands and feet tied together, while a foul smelling gag was shoved into his mouth. Rolling over, he peered out to see five other cages with the others in the same position as him. Tied up and gagged…well. Minus the kid. _They must think that Lloyd isn't as big of a threat as the rest of us. (Kai)_

 _That's preposterous…he's the one that is supposed to have some sort of strange power that can't be explained! Not us…especially me…way too normal for having any kind of powers whatsoever… (Jay)_

Kai would have rubbed his forehead out of annoyance if it weren't for the fact that his hands were tied behind his back. Instead he resorted to rolling his eyes. _Jay… rambling like that makes it sounds as if you do have some sort of unexplainable power. (Kai)_

 _Kai? You remember how I said not to do something early? Well…I changed my mind. Just enough to burn through the ropes holing you though. I still think we should try to keep it down low. (Nya)_

 _What are you guys even talking about? (Cole)_ Kai snorted as he realized that Cole sounded exasperated at them. _I can control fire. Catch things on fire, immune to fire. You name it. If you actually eh hm, pay attention to our rap sheet. We always either sneak away when we're at school, or there is a flood or FIRE at our foster home and we slip away during the chaos. (Kai)_

Silence filled the air as the tied up teens and Lloyd processed this information. Not that they realized that Lloyd was processing the information. _I can control water. That would be what caused the sudden floods that Kai mentioned. (Nya)_

 _Lightning. I can control lightning. And it can't hurt me either. I found that one out when I was caught out in a storm and ended up being hit by some. It just tickles me a little. (Jay)_

 _If we are all admitting to this…then I can control ice. And the cold doesn't bother me at all. (Zane)_

 _Ugh, fine then. I can control the earth. Rocks…dirt…that kind of thing. if I really want to I can either level a mountain to a valley or raise a valley to a mountain. I also can 'sense' things by pressing my hand against the ground; I think it might be vibrations or something like that. (Cole)_

Kai blinked, suddenly wondering if it was coincidence that they were all roommates…well, minus Nya but she spent more time with them than anyone else. Lloyd suddenly stood up and banged the bars on his cage door. "Hey! Let me out!" _Get ready…_ (A new unfamiliar voice that sounds suspiciously like Lloyd)

One of the bounty hunters sniggered as he looked over at the kid. "Or what? You haven't shown any signs of powers yet, despite the fact that everything points to you being the green ninja. Besides that, our client won't pay us if we let you go." He turned back to the card game that they were playing.

"Who says I don't have any powers yet? Maybe I just don't like using them in public. Now let us go or else I will use my powers to break my friends out!" Lloyd demanded as he glared at them. _When I point at you, use your powers to free yourselves. (Same voice as before that sounds too much like the kid)_

Laughter erupted as the bounty hunters doubled over in laughter. "Yeah right kid. You don't scare us."

Lloyd rolled his eyes, before turning to lock eyes on Kai. "I warned you…"

 _A Ninja Must Be Aware Of Their Surroundings…_

 **A/N: Done! *burst out in laughter* So yeah…can you guess who the sixth person that is telepathic is!? Lloyd has a plan…and no the others don't realize what the plan is yet…**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	11. A Ninja Must Be Wary

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

 **Wolfjem gets a virtual cookie! Though there was no sudden mental leaps. The last couple of chapters hinted that he MIGHT/COULD do it all along. Oh, Bookkeeper? Why Garmadon or FSM? You do realize that the chapter stated twice that the new voice sounded like Lloyd...right? Wathcer321 I love your enthusiasm and you get ten virtual cookies for apparently having caught on to Lloyd early on and being excited about this. Enjoy!**

Chapter Ten: A Ninja Must Be Wary…

Lloyd pointed straight at Kai. Kai vaguely wondered why he was pointing at him… _Kai! I'm pointing at you! Use your fire already! (New voice yet again, this time they know who.)_

 _Kid!? (All of them)_

Lloyd rolled his eyes as he lowered his hand, before lifting it again and pointing at Kai. _Yes… now Kai! (Lloyd, no pretending not to know any more)_

Kai quickly lit the ropes that were binding his feet and hands on fire, slipping out of them as he yanked the disgusting gag out of his mouth. Flames shot forth everywhere, burning the cage down. Smirking, he stepped out of the burning cage, unscratched. "Quick! Free the others!" Kai made a show of trying to fan the flames out; when in reality he was making them purposely bigger and raising the heat of them.

Lloyd nodded, before shoving his hands over in the general direction of Cole. Cole broke his ropes, making the cage fall apart by shaking the ground it was on in the guise of loosening the earth it was built into. Scrambling out, he pulled out his gag, eyeing the strangers tensely.

Lloyd waved a hand at Zane and Nya, both of whom used their respective powers to destroy their cages, while Cole and Kai rushed over to untie them. Lloyd gestured wildly at Jay, lightning scorching the ropes off of him. Jay pulled his gag out and rushed at the cage door, which was flung off of its hinges by a rather strong blast of lightning. Sprinting to the kid, Jay got him out.

 _Run! (Jay)_

The friends bolted for the door, making sure that the kid was in the middle of them all…allowing their powers to go haywire…

…..

Lloyd gasped for air as he slowed down, glancing around the dark woods nervously. "Guys? Where are we?"

"I have no idea…" Zane murmured softly as he anxiously glanced around, slowing down so as to be next to Lloyd.

Worry flooded Lloyd as he began to wring his hands together. Cole noticed and quickly cupped his hands over the younger boy's hands. "Relax…we can figure this out."

Lloyd frowned, worry creasing his brow. Kai glanced down at the book, somewhat surprised that he still had it in his hands. Nya shook her head as she glances around the forest, trying to see something that might tell her where they were at. "I don't see anything. Kai? Where did you get that book anyway? And why was that one page glowing?"

Kai winced, before turning it onto its side so it would fall open. "I don't remember where I got it…just that the voice gave it to me years ago and he said something about guarding it with my life… I don't know about why it was glowing. I need to check what was added to it… uh. That's actually interesting." Kai blinked as he looked down at the new page from earlier, before turning it to face the others.

It was a picture of them in the exact forest they were correctly in, the only difference was the fact that they were pressing their hands on the trunks of six different trees and a giant ship was rising up out of the ground. **One Must** **Unlock the** _ **Destiny's Bounty**_ **to begin One's Journey…** was written across the top in glittery gold ink.

"Wait…we've never done that before." Jay frowned, confusion flooding him.

Kai rolled his eyes, before turning the book to face himself again. "That's the thing about this book. Sometimes it adds a page that as to do with something that we just barely did, or it shows us something that we haven't done yet and places a riddle over the top like a prophesy. I think this means we're supposed to do this. Um…question is which trees do we touch?"

With that the six of them spread out, scanning the trees for any kind of sign that they were supposed to touch it. Finally the six of them gave up, turning to face each other as they entered a large clearing in the middle of the forest. "It's late. We need to get some sleep before we continue on in the morning." Zane weakly argued as he sag against one of the trees at the edge of the clearing. Immediately it lit up.

Zane froze, even as everyone glanced around unnerved about that. Jay nervously shifted, backing up against another tree. "Trees don't do that…" The tree he bumped into started to do the same thing.

Startled, all of them leaped backwards, bumping into trees themselves. Instantly, all of six trees shot out laser like lights to connect with each other, before a low rumbling sound filled the air. The ground shifted as a large ship rose elegantly from below the ground. Gasps rippled through the exhausted group as they stared wide eyed at the ship, which was in perfect condition.

"Soo, do we just stand around here or do we go on board and find actual beds to sleep in?" Nya rubbed her arms, reminding everyone that it was a bit chilly out.

"We'll go in…carefully. It might be a trap." Zane nodded, before placing a firm hand Lloyd's shoulder, a quiet reminder about what it was that they had discovered earlier that evening.

Feeling the gravity of the moment, they slipped into the ship. _Be careful… I would really hate it if something were to happen to anyone here. Especially a certain two. (Kai)_

 _A Ninja Must Be Wary…_

 **A/N: Done! Um, yeah… that just happened. So, Lloyd can also communicate to them via his mind. It wasn't something that just randomly happened however. He knew for some time now that he most likely could do it as well, but had no proof. Since he could hear the others 'silent conversations', he figured that meant that he should be able to do it, but never attempted it because there was no need. Being held prisoner gave him a need to do so though.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	12. Sometimes Ninjas Need to Run Away

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Eleven: Sometimes Ninjas Just Needs to Run Away…

Kai woke up the next morning, slightly disoriented. He was in bedroom that was fire, sword, dragon, and the color red, themed. He was also wearing red striped pajamas that fit him exactly, with a red comforter thrown over him. Blearily, he glanced over at the red dragon shaped alarm clock that was set on the red bedside table. He was about to go back to sleep, when he realized something a bit off about the whole situation… one he did not own any red striped pajamas, two, his bedroom was a plain room designed to sleep four at a time, not just one. Third; he didn't own that many swords! Oh, and there was also the fact that it was ten in the morning.

Leaping out of bed, he slipped his feet into the bright red slippers that were right next to not his bed, which again was a perfect fit. Shaking his head, he grabbed a red bathrobe, tugging it on as he decided to ignore the fact that everything in this room appeared to be tailored to him. Sprinting out the door, he took a deep breath, the smell of sizzling bacon reaching him instantly. Following the smell, he eventually came into the kitchen, where Zane was cooking up some breakfast while Lloyd was setting the table.

"Please tell me that I was the only one that fell asleep last night." Kai begged as he sank onto one of the kitchen chairs, placing his chin in his hand, ignoring the look Nya was shooting him about going about the place still in his pajamas.

"Ok…you were the only one that fell asleep last night." Cole shrugged as he placed a jug of orange juice on the table.

Kai groaned as he dropped his hand. "Now say it like you mean it."

"That we cannot do. Since we all fell asleep last night." Zane countered, confirming Kai's worst fears.

Kai sighed as he drummed his fingers. "So…first day on the job as the Guardians to the Green Ninja…and we already failed by falling asleep before we set up a watch. What if someone came aboard and kidnapped the kid while we were sleeping?"

Lloyd rolled his eyes as he slipped into his seat. "I'm still here though… is he usually this paranoid Nya?"

"Only when he thinks my life is in danger. Nice to see him panic over someone else." Nya responded, even as Zane brought the food he was cooking over.

"Breakfast is served." Kai felt his mouth water at the sight of the large stack of pancakes and the piled high bacon.

Everyone quickly dug in, filling their plates quickly. The coffee pot filled with maple syrup was passed around and drizzled, as in poured, greedily over the plates of food. The sound of cutlery clinking against the plates soon was the only sound that filled that air. At least until Lloyd spoke up.

"Kai? When Zane mentioned the ripped page from the prophesy that spoke of my Guardians…you uh…kinda _mentally_ said something about it being a ripped picture…then you went to that magic book and opened it up, and then _mentally_ said something about that being bad. What was up with that?" Lloyd lowered his fork suddenly, turning his gaze to Kai.

Kai nearly choked on his bacon, before grabbing his cup and quickly swallowing. Gasping a little for air, he turned to face Lloyd. "What kind of question is that?"

"One that is kind of important to know." Lloyd crossed his arms, giving Kai the don't try to patronize me look.

Kai glanced down, selecting his words carefully. "The book has always had this one page; it is always at the back. Even when a new page shows up, they always show up in front of it. And it is have _six_ ninjas, the one in the middle being the green ninja…and um, all of the others have these powers that they are shooting at the green ninja…and as you look at it, the green ninja turns into a gold ninja. And then it reads **True Potential will be Unlocked When the Powers of the Guardians Converge** over the top of it…"

"Great…so the second we were revealed as the Guardians, you connected the dots and knew we all had powers." Jay drily announced as he drenched his pancakes in sticky syrup.

"Not really, no. I knew that Nya and I had powers, but I hadn't connected the dots to realize that meant you all had powers as well." Pausing, Kai wrinkled his nose. "Wouldn't it be hard for Lloyd to learn how to fight and use his powers from someone who doesn't have any powers?"

Lloyd sniggered as he picked up his glass of juice. "Yeah… you sound like Uncle Wu about that. He believes that you guys will find like an ancient textbook or something to train help train me in the use of my powers."

Laughter all around. Zane stood up, carrying his dirty dishes to the sink. "That should be interesting…except that we didn't do that. Um, how did everyone learn to control their powers anyways?"

Silence so quite they could hear the sound of crickets chirping and…was that a branch snapping. Nya tensed as she stood up. "We need to get out of here."

"Right. Um, hold on, I looked at the bridge and apparently this is a flying ship…I'll go see if I can't get us off of the ground." Jay sprinted out of the kitchen.

Lloyd glanced nervously over at his friends. "Soo, what now?"

Kai bit his bottom lip as the only solution flashed across his mind. "We leave Ninjago immediately. I mean…we can't go back to the school. Obviously the security there was breached and it is our job to protect you. We can claim this ship as our own for now, I'm not sure how long we have till the owners come looking for it. Am I understood?"

"Yes." "Yes. I'm gonna go help Jay with flying the ship. If it's anything like and airplane, we need two pilots." Nya sprinted from the room as quickly as she could.

"Great." Kai muttered under his breath, before turning to face Lloyd. "I think that I remember seeing a game room last night. Wanna go a few rounds with me?"

"Sure…wait. It's a known fact that my Guardians are the ones that job is to train me. Where are we going to do that?" Lloyd froze, his mind flashing to that little detail.

"We need to learn how to be ninjas first….we're just the janitors." Cole informed Lloyd, right before shoving the last of the pancakes into his mouth.

"Oh…ok. I would really love to check out that video game console." Lloyd sprang up from his seat.

Kai grinned, standing up as he led the way out of the room.

 **A/N: Done! Ehehehehe… Kai is basically in charge at the moment…and um, yeah. They are fleeing for Lloyd's protection, and are totally running away when you think of it… and yeah. Things are about to get interesting. How well can five janitors, only two of which have some knowledge of martial arts, not black belts remind you… train a kid that is supposed to be the most powerful ninja of all time? Misadventures ahead!**

 **Also, again I am changing the way this is going to have the chapter titles labeled. Haven't figured out what the change is going to be…yet. Stay tune for all of the misadventures that our favorite ninjas are going to go on!**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	13. Real Ninjas Don't Obsess over VideoGames

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

 **Underlined** **is the narrator of the video games speaking…**

Chapter Twelve: Real Ninjas Don't Get Obsessed with Video Games…

Kai looked over the strange game console, noting that it had different colored headsets and gloves and boots, even as Lloyd rummaged through the video games. "Uh…these are all team up games and strategy and tactics. No Mario Karts or anything like that. And unless I'm misreading something… you don't pick the sides you are on….you're choices are the heroes or the heroes."

Kai straightened up as he walked over to the game selection. "Looks like they are all part of a series too. See? Super Ninja: Way of the Ninja ….Super Ninja 2: Rise of the Serpentine….Super Ninja 3: Legacy of the Green Ninja….Super Ninja 4: Rebooted…Super Ninja 5: Tournament of Elements…Super Ninja 6: Possession….Super Ninja 7: SkyBound…. Super Ninja 7.5: Day of the Departed…Super Ninja 8: The Hands of Time….Super Ninja 9: Sons of Garmadon…. Super Ninja 10: Hunted….and last but not least….Super Ninja 11: March of the Oni."

Lloyd shook his head as he bent over to pick up the first game. "Might as well as start with the first one and move our way through them. Super Ninja: Way of the Ninja…according to the back….it's about six random people that discover they have super powers and decide to become ninjas. Well… one of them is the son of some evil dude…and the only girl gets kidnapped… yeah this sounds like fun." He rolled his eyes.

Kai grabbed the game, quickly slipping it into the strange looking game console. "Then we'll play this one. Here… not entirely sure what these are supposed to do…but yeah. According to the box, we need all of these to play." Kai handed the younger boy the green headphone, gloves, and boots. "They just pull over the top of whatever you're wearing. See?" Kai pulled the red boots over his slippers.

Lloyd nodded, before pulling his boots on. Kai turned the power for the game console on, vaguely wondering if he needed to turn on the TV as well. Apparently he needed not to worry about it…

Kai blinked rapidly as he observed that he was now in the middle of a blacksmith shop…which stirred up faint childhood memories that involved the mysterious voice and a vague recollection of his mother's favorite perfume, though now that he thought about it, it couldn't have been perfume because Nya was allergic to perfume, and yet she had never had an allergic reaction to her perfume. Shaking his head, he walked over and picked up a sword that was sitting in the hot coals. Twirling it fancifully, he shoved it into the trough of water, watching steam rise up. "So…I'm gonna make a guess that I'm supposed to be a blacksmith of sorts?"

"I was thinking more like a red ninja cause you're wearing a red ninja gi…but ok." Lloyd coughed, drawing his attention to the fact that he was also there. Lloyd was wearing a green gi that had gold decorative details spiraling across the gi.

"Yeah…beginning to think that maybe we should have read the instructions and game plan more clearly before joining you guys…." Cole appeared next to Kai, wearing a black gi with dark brown decorative details.

Zane nodded in agreement as he slipped in, wearing a white gi with silver decorative details. "That would have been smart on our part." Pausing, he glanced up at something above Kai's head. "At least we know how many lives we have…and stamina…and strength and speed."

Kai blinked, before looking above his, friends? could he call them that?, heads to see that there was indeed several bars above them indicating all of that. He also couldn't help but notice that it seemed to vary for each person. They all had rather low stamina, though Cole's showed that he had more strength than the others. And Zane had a little more stamina than them for sure.

Jay and Nya then came in, Jay wearing a bright blue with a lighter blue decorative details gi, while Nya wore a dark blue with maroon decorative details. She shook her head as she looked at all of them. "So...what is this game about anyways?"

"Six people with powers decide to become ninjas. Sort of. The only female in the group gets kidnapped by something called Skullkins and her brother only takes on his ninja training to save her…and the Skullkins works for the one guy's father and he is pretty much the anti-hero, I guess? By the sounds of things, he wants to be like his father when he grows up…but he also wants to be friends with the others." Lloyd listed off, his brow furrowing with worry.

Kai tensed as he looked over at Nya. "Umm, unless a random girl shows up…I think that I know who the kidnapped one is..."

Nya tensed, before glancing out the shop's window. "There's storm brewing outside…but with the way everyone is running _inside_ …I think that means that there is something for more sinister than that going on here."

The group of potential friends and actual friends gathered around her to stare at the thundering clouds. They hadn't been there for long when…an army of skeletons charged into the small village? Confused they glanced at each other, even as what was clearly a narrative voice spoke up from nowhere.

"And so it begins! The peaceful village where Master Kai and Master Nya lived was under attack by the Skullkin army…"

"Really? Couldn't just call them skeletons!?" Someone demanded, Kai vaguely believes it was Jay.

"Master Kai orders Master Nya to stay inside while he bravely goes to defend his home…"

"You are doing no such thing!" Nya screeched as she tackled her brother.

"There they are! Our orders are clear….get the girl!" A four-armed skeleton bellowed as he pointed to the fighting siblings.

"Gah! Now we're under attack! Just wonderful!" Jay whined as he scrambled after them.

Two minutes later they were back in the game room of the ship, their headphones, boots and gloves tossed onto the floor. Lloyd shook his head as he stared at the game console. "Well…that was intense."

"You think?! We couldn't even make it pass level one!" Kai snapped, frustration edging his voice.

"Soo, because we all died in a virtual reality game does that mean that mean we're all dead?" Jay timidly asked as he scratched the back of his neck.

Kai shook his head, even as Zane spoke up. "No. It was just a game. Though I am a bit concerned with how tense that first level was. We really should go back to it at a later date."

"Yeah…and I am not staying behind in a blacksmith shop!" Nya snapped as she glared at Kai. The two of them had ended up accidently being the cause of each other's deaths due to the whole they were fighting each other and not the enemy.

Kai started to shake his head at her, when he suddenly remembered something. "Wait…aren't you and Jay supposed to be flying this thing!?"

"Relax…it has an autopilot that is _way_ advanced for what we have now a days." No sooner had the words escaped her lips, than they heard a frantic voice beeping through the P.A. system.

"There's a volcano in the way! We're all gonna die!"

Jay nervously glanced over at Nya. "Uh…please tell me that the autopilot did not just announce that there is something in the _way_?"

"Ok…note to self…never leave the auto pilot by itself!" Nya took off at a run to go and stop the ship from crashing into a volcano.

 **A/N: Done! Yeah… you all realize what the 'games' really are, didn't you? And I love the little auto pilot that Nya built in the, um after Zane's death, not entirely sure…it was done by the time she had gone to Chen's island to rescue the guys. And every time something appears in front of it that blocks it, instead of finding a way around it like a normal person…it covers its eyes and screams that it is going to crash because, inserts whatever is in the way, is in the way. Got to love him, no?**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	14. A Ninja Does NotFightwithHisFellowNinjas

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

 **Underlined** **is the narrator of the video games speaking…**

Chapter Thirteen: A Ninja Does Not Argue with His Fellow Ninjas…..

"That was close…" Nya mumbled as she brought the ship down carefully on the other side of the volcano.

Kai rubbed his forehead, exasperation flooding his eyes. "Good…it shouldn't have been close to begin with!"

"Ok…obviously it needs a little tweaking before we can use it again. But it shouldn't be too bad." Nya leaned against the wall, arms crossed.

"No! absolutely not!" Kai roared, before mentally contacting everyone. _Help me out here guys! Nya's gone bonkers! (Kai)_

"I'm standing in front of you!" Nya shouted angrily, reminding him that she could still hear him.

 _Do I need to come up break up a fight? (Zane)_

Kai and Nya glanced at each other, before responding back. _No! All good up here! (Kai and Nya)_

The door opened a crack, before Cole stuck his head in the room. "You sure? Cause it sounds like you were arguing to me."

"Cole!" The siblings roared at him angrily.

Cole recognizing that his life will be in danger if he stayed in the room quickly bolted out of there. Kai shook his head, before turning to face Nya. "It's our job to keep the kid safe. I'm not sure that _this auto pilot guy will help us with that_!"

~Back with Sensei Wu~

Sensei Wu paced in his office, waiting semi impatiently for the ninjas he had sent to locate his missing nephew to return. Misako and Garmadon were also in the office, sitting down near the desk.

"Brother please sit down…all this pacing isn't going to make Griffin do his job any faster." Garmadon pleaded with the grand sensei, even though he knew that Griffin was sent for his speed instead of someone else being sent.

"Oh I'm sorry…it's not like the _green ninja of prophesy is missing here!_ " Sensei Wu flopped down into his office chair, just as someone knocked loudly on the door. "Come in."

The door creaked open as a young ninja slipped into the room. Bowing to his senseis, he spoke firmly…and nervously. "Sorry Grand Sensei Wu… I couldn't find the young child anywhere. However I did discover that five of our servants are missing."

A sigh escaped the Grand Sensei as he steepled his fingers together. "Which ones?"

"Uh…the three that are always together…and the two new ones. I am truly sorry." He kept his eyes to the floor.

"You're dismissed Griffin." Misako spoke softly, worry flooding her for her baby.

As soon as the door closed behind the ninja, the two worried parents turned to Sensei Wu. "Do you know which servants that he mentioned of are?"

Wu sighed as he stood up and walked over to his office window, staring out of it. "Yes. The three would be my best, hardest working servants, Zane, Cole, and Jay. The other two are a set of siblings… that are known for running off and causing grief everywhere they go." Wu shook his head as he rubbed his beard. "I was hoping that the tentative friendship that they appeared to be forming with the others would mean that they wouldn't run off this time…but now…" Turning he walked over to his computer and began typing something up. "I'm sending a reward out to catch them. My guess is that the new ones had captured Lloyd and the others, whom Lloyd is rather close to, tried to stop them so they took them as well. The sooner we get ninjas looking for these two, the sooner we can find Lloyd… before the time of the prophesy comes hopefully."

~Back with the Frie… whom I kidding? We all know that they are the ninjas from the prophesy by now. ~

Zane stirred the pot of stew, worry creasing his brow. _How are we supposed to protect Lloyd when none of us know how to fight?_ (Zane)

Lloyd sighed as he looked up from where he was working on some algebra problems that Zane had given him to work on. "You know I can still hear you…right?"

Zane blinked as he looked over at him, before turning to face the pot of stew again. "I am afraid that will take some getting used to on my part."

"Try all of our parts." Kai walked into the room, dropping into the chair next to Lloyd. "By the way…that's the wrong answer. Try again. It should be x equals thirty." Kai moved his head slightly to the side, making a slight gesture with his hands. "Just saying."

Lloyd blinked slowly, before looking at the problem Kai was correcting. "How do I know that you know what you're talking about?"

Nya walked in, heading straight to the cup cupboard. "Kai has a really high IQ…he just down plays it because he finds it funny when people think he's a dummy."

"That's not true… I down play it so that I can stick with you in our classes." Kai rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms in a huff.

"Sure you do. Admit it… you get bored way too easy." Nya filled the cup she had grabbed with water.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Enough!" Zane roared as he glared at the two siblings. "We cannot avoid to have tensions amongst ourselves. We need to figure out the best way to protect Lloyd that does not e=involve running away every time we see something dangerous."

Jay and Cole walked into the room right then, and promptly froze. "Uh… did we miss something?" Jay knitted his eyebrows together in confusion, while Cole just shrugged.

Kai rolled his eyes as he stood up. "Come on… you seriously haven't forgotten already? Nya and I know some martial arts. We can teach you all how to do it."

Zane sighed with relief, even as Lloyd held his math work sheet up for all to see. "So… does this mean that you can teach me how to be the best ninja that will rise above all the rest?"

Kai blinked as he stared at him. "Do you usually quote lines from your own prophesy?"

Lloyd turned bright red at that, even as Zane turned the heat down on the stew. "Dinner is ready. Will someone please get the bowls?"

 _A ninja does not fight with his fellow ninjas…_

 **A/N: Done! So…yeah. Wu has the wrong idea… kind of. He has what the friends were doing right…but not the siblings. Oops. I had a bit of a writer's block and was reading through reviews and things when I noticed what the summary said… and boom! Wu's POV of things! Brilliant if you ask me. And yes, the ninja that came in and was sent to look for Lloyd is Griffin Turner, Master of Speed. Now that we are into the interesting part of their 'training' I will be trying to give various minor characters cameos that either will be unimportant or really affect the plot line. You just have to keep on reading to figure it out.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	15. Ninjas Don't Plan to Break-in Offices

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

 **Underlined** **is the narrator of the video games speaking…**

Chapter Fourteen: Ninjas Do Not Plan to Break Into Offices!

Kai rubbed his hand over his face as he stared at the mess in front of him. "This is going to be fun…" Marching through the others, he corrected their footing. "We don't have time for this. You got to get this right…and you got to get it right now."

Spinning his staff, demonstrated how to break pottery in the middle of the air. A yelp escaped the others as Jay spun his staff too wildly, knocking everyone else down. Kai groaned, before setting up and archery ring and showing them how to hit the target while skewering a tomato with the arrow.

The arrows and tomatoes from the others landed everywhere but where it belonged. Kai bit his bottom lip, before moving onto the next thing. Bombs were a bad idea apparently. As was running through the mountains while carrying a heavy load. And dodging flaming arrows….

~Five Hours Later~

Kai flopped unceremoniously onto the couch, a scowl twisting his face. "We'll never be ready to keep the kid safe or train him if we can't get ourselves trained."

Groans were the only response he got as everyone slouched down in their various seats. Only Nya wasn't as beat up at the others, and that was saying something. "There's got to be something that we can do. Maybe we can get a hold of whoever taught us how to fight and have them train us?" She looked over to Kai, as if employing him to answer her question.

Kai opened and closed his mouth twice…before frowning. "I don't remember who taught us."

Nya sat up straight, surprise flashing across her features. "But that was right before we entered the foster system and you remember more about before that than me…seeing has I was just _three_ when all that happened."

Kai frowned, scratching his head. "Yeah…I know. But I don't remember who taught us."

Lloyd pushed himself upright on the other end of the couch, a frown crossing his face. "I heard Uncle mention once that there is an ancient little known about ninja trick…one that can suppress another's memory. It's in a scroll that is kept in his private office though."

Jay frowned as he bent over, rubbing his aching foot. "Ok…so presuming that a ninja did block Kai's memories… how are we gonna get that from there when we're here?"

"Perhaps we could sneak in will quick, and get back out with it before anyone knows. It's too dangerous for Lloyd to stay there for a long period of time since everyone expects him to be there." Zane suggested as he nervously shifted, unease edging his voice on what it was that he was suggesting.

"That's against the law…like way more against it than running away and lying about why one is alone…" Cole interjected, panic edging his voice.

"That and how can we break in anyways? What if their watching for us? They might even think _we_ kidnapped Lloyd!" Jay wrung his hands nervously, anxiety dancing in his eyes.

Kai frowned; swinging his legs down so that he was sitting upright as he looked down at his jeans that he had found in the room he had slept in earlier. He was also wearing a red sweater. An idea began forming as he stood up slowly…before sprinting out of the room.

"Kai?! Where are you going?!" The others yelped as they watched him leave.

A few minutes later, Kai came back…carrying his workers uniform for the Academy. "Who says we have to break in? We won't be breaking in if we're just cleaning the office and the hallway right outside of it."

"What about me?" Lloyd frowned, knowing that he didn't have a workers uniform.

Kai scratched his head, before looking over at Zane. "Didn't your father built a robotic bird called, I don't remember. It was something like S.O.G.? Maybe it was something else. You liked to call it Falcon….and it never worked properly though. Only listened to your voice and someone else's… what am I talking about?" Kai blinked rapidly as he realized that he had no idea what he was talking about.

Zane opened and closed his mouth multiple times, before frowning. "A good question…not even the Grand Sensei knows about Falcon. He is in my side of the closet back at the Ninja School though. However if I tell him to guard Lloyd he won't leave his side and will attack anyone that tries to steal him." Zane narrowed his eyes as he shot Kai a look. "I don't remember anyone else that he obeyed though."

Kai frowned, confused about that. Lloyd spoke up, worry creasing his brow. "Uncle mentioned that the person that as their memories suppressed will be able to recall little details though then they'll get confused on how they remember such things."

"Great…. We really need that scroll."

~Exact same time as Kai announcing the need for the scroll, Middle of Don't know yet…~

"We need that scroll! If we can undo what that smart-aleck of a ninja did to the boy…" A man growled out as he slammed his fist onto the old wooden table.

His companion smiled to himself as he crossed his arms. "Relax brother. I suspect we do not have to wait long for everything to fall into place."

"What do you mean by that?"

A smirk crossed the older man's face as he steepled his fingers together. "According to the idiots that you hired behind my back, it seems to be that the boy is with the kid already. As well as the rest of the guardians." Chuckling, he walked over, pressing a red button next to a speaker of some sort. "You heard that, ninja? You're plan failed. The boy will be their downfall…" He burst out laughing manically.

~During his maniacal laughter, twenty stories below the surface of Ninjago, hidden cell~

A groan escaped the ninja that hung from the damp cold wall, his pitch black ninja gi torn in various places. His eyes suddenly snapped open, even as he hissed into the freezing air. "I don't think so… _Krux_." (Camera zoom in to reveal that his eyes are the exact same as Kai's)

 **A/N: Done! Guess what? Krux and Acronix just showed up…and someone else that I want you all guessing on who it is… I made it as obvious as possible. Also… the time twins apparently seem to think that some boy will help them destroy the guardians so that they can destroy Lloyd. Guesses anyone? What else…yeah all three of them are obviously gonna be important… and yes the ninja at the clear end is the one that blocked Kai's memories (he also is the one that trained the sibs…)**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	16. A Ninja Does Not Steal

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Fifteen: A Ninja Does Not Steal…

Kai held his hand up to signal to the others to stop their forward motion. Pausing, Zane and Cole stopped right behind Nya. Unfortunately, no one warned Jay that they were stopping. The friends flung their hands around wildly as they all crashed to the ground. The five of them were back wearing the janitor uniforms and had baseball caps pulled low over their faces.

Kai grabbed Nya, helping her back up as he shot a glare in the direction of the others. "Quiet… we can't get caught."

"Right…" The others muttered under their breaths.

Kai peered down the hall, eyeing the single janitor that was mopping nearby. _Zane… get to our old room and get Falcon. Pronto. (Kai)_

Zane nodded silently, before slipping away. Kai watched him go, before glancing back to see that the janitor was leaving the area. _Jay, Cole… remember you posts. (Kai)_

 _Yes. Why are we only cleaning in front of the office again? (Jay)_

Kai fought the urge to reach over and strangle him. Nya arched an eyebrow upwards as she peered back at Jay. _Jay… you are standing guard while we find and take the scroll. (Nya)_

Jay nodded in understanding, though he appeared to be still confused. _This scroll better be worth it. What if we're wrong and Kai not remembering as nothing to do with this old ninja trick? (Jay)_

 _Stop fretting and get dusting! (Kai)_ Kai darted forward, pulling open the office door, before waving Nya on in.

Nya scanned the area, noting the placement of various items. "I don't think that the scroll will be with the scrolls about the Green Ninja."

Kai nodded as he moved deeper into the room, snapping the door shut behind him. "You're right. It's gotta be somewhere in here…just not there."

Kai ran his fingers along the dust free oak desk that took up most of the room. A frown crossed his features as he tapped at random spots. Maybe he could get lucky and find a hidden compartment? _Kai? Falcon is with the kid now. I am headed back to join Cole and Jay. (Zane)_

 _Thank you Zane. (Kai)_ Nya pushed a vase to the side, peering behind it to see if the scroll was there. _You guys know I can hear you…right? (Lloyd)_ They all wisely didn't answer him. Kai lifted up a thick book that appeared to be a ledger of sorts. Rifling through the pages, he found two pages carefully glued to each other. Interest peeked, he pulled out a small hunting knife and carefully sliced them open… the scroll they were looking for fell out of the pages and into his waiting hands. _Bingo! I got it…let's go! (Kai)_

"And what exactly do you think you're doing? Return that scroll immediately young man!" Sensei Wu suddenly appeared in the doorway, fury flaring in his eyes as he leveled his staff at him.

Kai bit back a groan as he quickly contacted the others. _What part of warn us when the Grand Sensei comes near did you not UNDERSTAND!?(Kai)_

 _Uh…he hasn't come by this way yet… (Cole)_

 _Um guys? Isn't the title Grand Sensei given to the most accomplished NINJA that all of Ninjago has seen? (Jay)_

"Oh sure… now we remember that detail." Kai drily announced as he shifted his position slightly. Looks like he might have to fight his way out of there.

Nya glanced between Kai and Sensei Wu, her expression tense. Sensei Wu lifted his hand up and gave a small signal… three more ninjas, mentors by their gi color, dropped out of nowhere and seized her. "Now Kai…I am giving you one last chance. Where is Lloyd?"

Kai arched his eyebrow upwards, surprised about that question. "Far from here…which is exactly where he belongs." _I mean…we like had an entire conversation about how dangerous it is for the kid to be here in the first place! (Kai)_

 _Kai…stop whining! I'm sure Uncle Wu knows what he is talking about. (Lloyd, with a hint of annoyance)_

Kai rolled his eyes, before glancing over at his little sister. "Yeah…seems to be our little boss is getting annoyed at us."

"I get the feeling he's gonna be annoyed if you keep calling him that." Nya muttered darkly under her breath.

Sensei Wu scowled as he swung his staff so that it was leveled with Kai's neck. A death blow position. "Who's your boss? And what does he want with my nephew?!"

Kai and Nya both blinked slowly, confusion slipping in. _He does realize that our boss as you like to put it and his nephew are the same…right? (Nya)_

 _Guys…we can all hear you…and wait a minute… I am not your boss! (Lloyd)_

Kai bit back a laugh, even as he tried to find a way out of this particular mess. As if hoping to impress him with their fighting skills, or lack of them, the others barged into the room and quickly took out Sensei Wu.

Wait.

Kai blinked slowly to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. Zane had somehow knocked Sensei Wu's staff out of his hands and was holding off the greatest ninja alive, while Cole and Jay were just finishing up tying up the other ninjas, releasing Nya.

"Yeah…I think it's time to go…" Kai sprinted to the window, flinging it open before jumping out without a second thought.

"Ninjas! Stop them!" Sensei Wu's voice bellowed out from behind him.

 _A ninja does not steal…_

Kai rolled his eyes skyward as he grabbed the long dangling rope that didn't line up with any windows or the wall. Shimmying up it, he quickly pulled himself up to the Destiny's Bounty that was flying over the Ninja School.

Reaching a hand over the edge, he pulled his sister up. Together, they pulled and dragged the rope and its rather heavy cargo up and over. Gasping for breath, the group collapsed onto the deck, even as the ship began to fly away from the school…leaving the ninjas that were chasing them completely baffled on where they disappeared to.

Zane grabbed the scroll and carefully unrolled it. Frowning, he walked into the ship, where the lights were on and rather bright. "It says here that if you hadn't had this trick used on you, the reversal won't do anything. So we should be good to try it now." Looking up, he glanced over at Kai even as Lloyd entered the room with the lifelike robotic bird. "If it is alright with you."

Kai nodded firmly, determination flaring in his eyes. "Yes. The sooner we know who trained us. The sooner we can get our training done."

Zane consulted the scroll one more time, before carefully placing his fingers on strategic points on Kai's neck. "This might hurt…" He swiftly pinched the points in Kai's neck.

Kai gasped as he nearly doubled over. "This is…really really bad." His face paled as his recently lost memories came surging back.

 **A/N: Done! Ok, before you go on a rampage that there was no voice in their heads at the end…it happened when Kai jumped out of the window. Just so you know. Don't believe me? Go back and reread it. And I am cutting this off now cause if we went to when I wanted to end it…we would go over my limit. Not by much really, but I have an impatient sister… *glances over to Angel staring intently at her laptop in hopes of an update…* I'll pick it up next time!**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	17. A Ninja Cleans too

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Sixteen: A Ninja cleans too…

"This is bad…really really really bad!" Kai paced around the room, completely freaked out.

"Um Kai? What is that you remember that is 'really' bad?" Jay was getting nervous about Kai's aggravation.

"The guy that trained us was Ray Smith!" Kai ran his fingers through his hair, spinning around to stare at them as if that changed everything.

Which it did. "Ray Smith? As in Grand Sensei Wu's prodigy that left thirty years ago to find the Guardians…and then all correspondence with him ceased ten years ago?" Zane knitted his brow together as if trying to wrap his mind over that.

Kai ran his fingers through his hair, taking in a deep shaky breath. "Yeah. Also, he's the one that wrote our recommendation letters…and he might have written recommendation letters for you guys as well… with the intention to give them to you when you were old enough to go to the school. This is really bad."

Cole launched to his feet, a protest slipping out. "Whoa there… those letters could have been for anyone…how do you know that it was for us!?"

"Barely turned two years of age…a famous singer comes in to speak with him, with a certain small child with him. The singer had married the daughter of a ninja, and was concerned that his son was lifting things one handed that was three times his weight." Pausing, Kai looked over at Cole. "I may have mentioned that you were one of the Guardians. He wrote out the letter, and handed it to your father with instructions to give it to you when you are ten." Kai closed his eyes, pulling up the next memory. "Three years of age, Nya is taking a nap at the time; an older couple comes in with their son to have something repaired. Jay…you sneezed and lightning comes flying out. I, again, told them that you were one of the Guardians."

"I am picking up on a pattern here…" Jay muttered to Cole.

Kai continued, picking up speed now. "A couple of months later, Dr. Julian comes in with Zane and Falcon due to the fact he wanted to see if he had an idea on how to fix Falcon so that it would listen to others besides Zane. I got annoyed at some other kid and ordered Falcon to attack him. Falcon did what I told it to do." Glancing over at Zane, Kai could feel his cheeks turning red with embarrassment. "Unless my memory is off… the reason why I told Falcon to attack the kid, and he did it, is because Dr. Julian accidently programmed him to tell when one of the Guardians is nearby, and Falcon's programming indicates that he has to listen to us before he listens to anyone else…no matter what."

Zane blinked, before lifting a finger up. "Ah…that explains why you knew about Falcon listening to someone else and I did not…wait. How good is your memory?"

"Too good. Good enough to know what happened to our parents." Kai grimaced as he hugged himself tightly.

"Really? That's amazing! What happened to them?" Nya bounced on her toes with excitement.

Kai glanced at her, before shaking his head. "You wouldn't believe it. They hide us in the foster care system because someone wanted to use me to get to all of you, to leave Lloyd unguarded."

"What?!" "They could have kept me at least!" Nya protested over the others outbursts.

Kai quickly shook his head. "No they couldn't. Whoever it is that was after me took them prisoner. I mean…that's the only thing that makes since with the date of when he went silent."

"Who went silent?" Lloyd was completely lost.

Kai sucked in a deep breath, before speaking slowly. "The whole reason why I was with Ray Smith each time one of you showed up is because Dad, and Ray Smith…are one and the same. Dad was the one who trained us; Dad was the one that erased my memory for our own protection. It was Dad that hid us in the foster care system after _Mom_ was taken prisoner. It was all Dad."

"Ok…so either he went silent because he was trying to locate and save your mother…or he was captured shortly after he hid you two." Zane drummed his fingers on the top of the dinner table.

Kai rubbed his forehead as he sank, finally, into his seat. "I'm getting a headache just thinking about it. the voice we kept hearing in our minds that was quoting the Ninja Code to us was actually a memory of Dad teaching it to me."

Nya nodded in agreement, a tiny smile on her face. "That explains a lot."

"So…what do we do now?" Cole frowned, worry creasing his brow.

"We're doomed that's what. There's nothing we can do. We don't even know how to fight!" Jay whined as he picked up a duster and twirled it, flicking dust everywhere.

He tossed the duster in the air, watching it spin before catching it lazily in his other hand. Whipping it over his head, he dragged it casually over the table. Kai froze, his eyes widening in shock. "Jay… can you do that again..? Only down in the training room, with the nunchucks."

"Wait…what?" Jay stared at Kai as if he were crazy. "I was just dusting, not fighting."

Kai rolled his eyes, before snagging Jay by the arm. "Come on…"

…

Jay blinked rapidly as he stared at the demolished practice dummy. "Did…I just do that?"

Kai rubbed his chin, before flicking the switch that reset the course. "Ok…Zane? You specialize in polishing. Just go through the motion you do when you put the silverware away, with shruikens."

"Ok." Zane grasped a pair of shruikens, ignoring the way it turned gold. "You sure about this?"

"Positive." Kai crossed his arms, his mind reeling.

Zane sighed, before twirling his shruikens in his hand before he tossed the weapon. Within seconds, the dummy was destroyed yet again. "Cole? How's your sweeping?" Kai flicked the switch yet again.

"It's alright." Cole shrugged, even as he reached for a scythe. "You want me to try it with a scythe?"

 _Didn't think I was_ _ **that**_ _predictable._ (Kai) Kai rolled his eyes as he jerked his head towards the course.

"In this case… yes, yes you are." Zane nodded in confirmation.

Lloyd sniggered as he watched as Kai's face turned bright red. "That was a private thought!"

"Sorry… shouldn't have broadcasted it then." Lloyd shrugged nonchalantly.

Kai grumbled to himself, turning to look over at the course…only to realize that Cole was staring at the practice dummy that had been neatly sliced in half. Looking up, Cole shrugged as he slung the scythe over his shoulder. "What? You were taking too long."

 _A Ninja cleans too…_

 **A/N: Done! And happy birthday Angel! And to those out there that read my profile…yes that means it is a happy birthday to me as well. Hope you all like reading about Kai freaking out and his finally figuring out how to train the others.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**

 **P.S. Can you find the quote from the actual show?**


	18. A Ninja must Eat Healthy Meals

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Seventeen: A Ninja must eat healthy meals…

Kai flipped his sword to his other hand, barely able to stop Cole from getting a hit in. _Good…wait. Where's the kid?_ (Kai) Kai paused, glancing around quickly. They were doing a team up session. Meaning that it was everyone against Kai and Nya. Cole and Lloyd were assigned to fight Kai, while Zane and Jay were battling Nya nearby.

Kai was about to ask aloud if anyone as seen the kid, when Zane spoke up. "Kai? The reason why you lost track of Lloyd is because he needed a water break."

Kai tilted his head to the side, glancing at the clock on the wall. "We've been down here for three hours already? It is time for a break. When we get back, we'll do another tournament. How does that sound?"

Cheers rippled through the group, as they all began to put the weapons they were using away. Three weeks have passed since they had discovered that they, apparently, already knew how to fight. Stepping into place, Kai and Nya began to hone in the others skill, as well as start training Lloyd…and figure out how they can use their powers as weapons as well. Kai leaned against the wall, staring at the clock as he tried to wrap his head around how much time had passed already this morning. When they had started out, they discovered that they could train for almost one hour before they collapsed with exhaustion. Even Kai and Nya struggled with it, not used to having train with more than each other. Now three hours could pass without them really noticing. Shaking his head, Kai straightened up and left the empty training room.

Upon entering the kitchen to get a drink of water, he found the others chuckling to themselves as an arm wrestling match between Cole and Lloyd took place. Kai smirked as he joined Nya, watching as the smallest beads of sweat dripped down Cole and Lloyd's foreheads. "Come on kid! Show him whose boss!"

"Thanks for the support hothead…" Cole grunted, straining to keep his arm from slamming into the table.

Zane chuckled again, holding out a cool glass of water to Kai. "At this rate…we should be able to have Lloyd, and ourselves, ready within the next month or two. Give or take."

Kai nodded his thanks as he accepted the drink, taking a large gulp. "Can't be too sure about that. Lloyd still needs to tap into his powers and learn to control them."

Nya grimaced, nudging him playfully. "Way to ruin the moment." A loud slamming sound rented the air suddenly, making everyone jump. "Whoa! Awesome job Lloyd!"

Kai glanced over to see that Lloyd had indeed beaten Cole. The young child grinned as he turned to face the rest of his friends. "So…what's for lunch?"

Kai shrugged, glancing over at the whiteboard that had the days of the week and their names scribbled all over it…along with mentioning each meal needed each day. "Looks like it is Cole's turn to cook again."

Groans escaped everyone, minus Cole, upon hearing that. "Can we just eat out…please!" Lloyd pressed his hands together as he gave his friends his very best puppy-dog eyes.

Kai groaned, rubbing his forehead in an attempt to make it look like he had a headache. _If I give in…we'll end up going out for pizza…and that sounds soo good after three weeks of eating healthy… and we've been improving… I guess it wouldn't hurt anything at all… (Kai)_

"Yeah! We're going out for pizza!" Lloyd sprang out of his seat, running for the door.

"Wait! I didn't say…we _really_ need to learn how to not broadcast our thoughts to each other." Kai grumbled under his breath as he tore after his friends.

~With Sensei Wu~

Sensei Wu was _fuming_. Three weeks have passed…and still. No one knew where Kai or Nya were at…or who their companions were, or their boss for that matter. And the only clue they had was that Kai had referred to their boss has little. Which he presumed meant that their boss must be on the small side. Smaller than even their one companion that was rather short.

A loud knock came at the door, right before it swung open. Sensei Wu bit back a groan, knowing only one person that would just waltz in before he invited them in. "We are still looking brother…"

"I know. I was more wondering how you were holding up. It's been weeks Wu. None of your students or staff…not even your fellow ninjas has seen you. You have gone from the most involved Grand Sensei in the history of Ninjago to the no one even knows if you're here or not." Garmadon walked over to where Sensei Wu stood in front of the window, placing his hand on his shoulder.

Sensei Wu sighed, worry creasing his brow. "We still haven't found them. For all we know, they could have left the coun…"

"Kai and Nya have taken Lloyd and his friends to a pizza parlor in Jamankai Village!" A random ninja barged into the office.

"What!?" The brothers turned to stare at the ninja, positive that he was mistaken. There was no way that the siblings would just take their prisoners out to for lunch where anyone can see them…especially with the bounties on their heads!

~Back with the Friends~

 _Ooh! Can we have the extra sausage? (Lloyd)_

 _This one has mushrooms on it… I love that on my pizza! (Zane)_

 _Guys… the waitress is giving us a weird look. Maybe we should talk out loud…that way she can see why we are wrinkling our noses and nodding in agreement. (Nya)_

Kai glanced u from his menu to see that the waitress _was_ looking at them all funny like. Glancing back at the menu, he noted the pizza that Zane pointed out. "Yeah, I think we're ready to order…"

"We haven't discussed whether or not we're getting cheesey bread too! Or what we want to drink!" Lloyd protested, a pout sticking his bottom lip out rather childishly.

Kai groaned, even as Cole nodded in agreement. "They also have cinnamon sticks that we can order instead of the cheesey bread."

Kai glanced over at Jay, who looked ready to fall asleep and probably wouldn't care what they ordered. "Fine!" _What little boss wants…he gets. (Kai)_

"I am the perfect size for my age! And the cinnamon sticks sounds better." Lloyd brightened up, a grin on his face now.

Kai waved the waitress over, noting the time on the far wall. They had spent too much time here. "We would like your large cowboy pizza with extra sausage, and twelve of your cinnamon sticks…as for drinks, and like your lemonade. Guys?"

"Coke." Cole nodded, his expression tense as he eyed the door.

"Cherry Coke." Jay yawned loudly.

"Sprite or Seven up…whichever one that you have." Nya waved her hand nonchalantly.

"Root beer!" Lloyd bounced in his seat excitedly.

Zane shook his head, his voice firm. "I believe that I will just get a glass of water when we arrive home."

Kai snapped his fingers, stifling a groan. "That's right. It's for go, not stay."

 _A ninja must eat healthy meals…_

She nodded in understanding, before leaving them alone so as to give the order to the chef. Unfortunately...that was when Falcon came screeching into the pizza parlor. _Ok… Nya get the order. Lloyd, stay with her. rest of you with me. (Kai)_

 _On it! (Everyone in unison)_

~Forty Minutes Later, Sensei Wu~

"What do you mean they left?!" Sensei Wu stared with dismay at the waitress that had called in the sighting in the first place.

She crossed her arms, exasperation flooding her features. "The fact that they did. Kai Smith told me that it was to go. They placed their order…and then Kai and the three janitors that they are holding prisoner disappeared. Nya stayed behind to pick up the order and pay for it. And your nephew helped carried things."

"Thank you Skylor." Garmadon politely thanked the waitress.

Growling with frustration, Sensei Wu marched out the pizza parlor. Only to trip over a long nasty scar in the sidewalk. Hope flared up as he scanned the signs of a rather fierce battle, one that his nephew clearly had been involved with since only someone with powers could cause such damage. Which meant one thing… Lloyd was fighting back. He wasn't going to let the siblings to get away with kidnapping him.

They just have to find them before Lloyd starts to struggle with controlling his finally showing up powers. How hard could that be?

 **A/N: Done! Hmm…Skylor as in Master of Form has shown up. Everyone is running in circles…and Kai is still calling Lloyd his little boss. I am rethinking the role of the other elemental masters a little bit… I mean, obviously I changed Skylor since she was supposed to be a ninja not a waitress. Oh! They have been keeping a good diet lately, but took a break off cause they want their pizza.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	19. ANinjaMustKeepTheirChargeInSight

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking… Also labeling Skylor as the Master of Form was a mis-typo on my part…I meant Master of Amber! Not that it matters… only matters with the friends this time around.**

Chapter Eighteen: A Ninja Must Not Let The Person Their Protecting Out Of Their Sight…

Kai flipped to avoid the snakelike blue lightning that arched through the air, aiming right at him. Kai narrowed his eyes in puzzlement, glancing around the empty room for Jay. _Come on…you've got to be in here somewhere! (Kai)_

 _Wouldn't responding to you will defeat the purpose of drawing your attention from the dummy? (Zane)_

 _Zane! (All the others minus Kai)_

 _Thanks Zane! I'll go check on my **prisoner** not the dummy. We've been over this before. (Kai)_ Kai whirled around, rushing towards the door.

"Wait! Come back here!" Jay jumped out from behind the couch.

Kai flicked his wrist, barely grazing him with his fire power. "Sorry Jay…you're out."

Jay grumbled under his breath as he flopped down on the couch. Kai ran out of the room, feet pounding as he headed straight to his bedroom. Upon banging open the door, he found it completely empty…except for the practice dummy wearing a green hoodie on his bed.

A sigh escaped him as he sank down onto the floor. Unfortunately, that was when a single ice cube flew through the air and whacked him in the forehead. "I believe you are out now Kai." Zane stood in his doorway, a smirk on his face.

Kai blinked rapidly, before realizing what just happened. "You tricked me. You didn't know where I hid the dummy…so you purposely referred to Jay as a distraction. It was all an act."

"Yep…though I still don't like the whole sacrificing myself to make it look like we really did know where to look." Jay slipped past Zane, the others right behind him.

Cole picked up the dummy, slinging it over his shoulder. "We win."

"Cole! I don't like the idea of you slinging me over your shoulder!" Lloyd whined loudly as he stared at the dummy.

Cole blinked slowly as he looked at him. "But it's not you…it's just a dummy that we're pretending is you."

"Precisely! I don't want to be slung over your shoulder…which means that you are training yourself to sling me over your shoulder doing rescues!" Lloyd protested, a pout forming on his lips.

"Ok…we get it Lloyd. We'll stop. Anyone up for another Tournament?" Nya patted Lloyd on the back, as if that will cheer him up.

It didn't…but the idea of having another Tournament however did. "Yes!" Lloyd jumped into the air, punching it excitedly.

Kai rolled his eyes as he stood back up. "Right. Let's go draw straws to see which one of us will be the bad guy this time."

~Ten Minutes Later~

 _Do I have to be the bad guy? (Lloyd)_ Kai groaned, wishing that the kid would just concentrate on hiding the bad guy while they brainstormed ideas to beat him.

 _You pulled the short straw… and you agreed to the rules! Short straw is the bad guy! Now go hold fake you prisoner! (Kai, irritated)_

Silence across the bond as Lloyd mentally retreated. Kai pinched the bridge of his nose, turning to look at the unimpressed others. "I probably should apologize for snapping at him…"

"Ya think!?" Nya glowered angrily at him, somehow appearing to be for taller than him despite being slightly smaller.

Kai winced, and was about to contact the kid… _Help! It's the bounty hunters again! (Lloyd)_

 _Kid! (Kai) Greenie! (Cole and Jay) Lloyd! (Zane) Little bro! (Nya)_

Breaking at a run, they tore down the ship's hallway, just in time to see the bounty hunters from earlier that had taken them from the School in the first place leaping from a window, with Lloyd slung over the one bounty hunter's shoulder. "No!"

Kai launched forward, colliding into the wall as he tried to stop the men from taking his young friend and charge. Zane grasped him from behind, hauling him back to his feet. "Falcon! Follow them!"

A loud screech filled the air as the robot spy shot through the air, giving chase to the men. Cole leaped onto the window sill, determination flooding his countenance. "Come on! They're getting away!"

"Wait! We need our weapons!" Jay cried out as he skidded to a halt, before turning and running down the hall to the training room.

Nya spun around, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "We need to stop the ship too!"

Kai stared out the window that they just lost Lloyd to, a single thought crossing his mind… _keep us up to date on your whereabouts kid… (Kai)_

 _I'll try… feeling…really….slow motion yawn…sleepy… (Lloyd)_

Zane frowned, concern flashing across his features. "They must have drugged him. We need to keep contact open with him. Hopefully hearing our voices in his mind will counteract the drug."

"Good point Zane." Kai was already tearing down the hall to the door that lead outside. _Hold on Kid. We're coming…just keep talking to us. If you can't think of something to say…listen to us. Please…we can't lose you! (Kai)_

~Three Hours Late, with Garmadon~

Garmadon peered into the grocery bag that he was carrying; double checking that he had everything on his wife's list. He was about to walk up to the nearby bus stop for a ride back up to the Monastery, when he heard it. A soft, solid thump from one of the back alleyways. Unease immediately flooded him. Part of him wanted to say it was just an alley cat knocking an old tin trash can over. And yet…there was no loud hiss of surprise from the feline. Pulling his cell out, he inched toward the alleyway, peering into it. The sight that greeted him turned his stomach…and made his blood run cold.

Pressing the first speed dial on his cell, he rushed into the alleyway. Thankfully, his brother answered on the first ring. "What is it Garmadon?"

"Kai. Alleyway. Get an ambulance here. Use my phone's tracker to find us." Garmadon somehow spluttered out as he knelt down on the cold ground, in what he hoped wasn't a puddle of blood but most likely was.

"Kai?! Ambulance?! What did he do to Lloyd!?" Wu's voice spluttered out over the phone.

Garmadon glanced at the unconscious teen, even as bile rose in his mouth. "Lloyd's not here…I think someone tried to kill Kai…."

 _A Ninja Must Not Let The Person Their Protecting Out Of Their Sight…_

 **A/N: Done! Oh dear…Kai isn't with the others and he was found by Garmadon. (I considered having a civilian find him and collect the bounty…but felt that this was WAY better than that approach.) The underlined is to show that it is the person on the other side of the phone. Since phones have a tendency for some reason to make our voices sound a little bit more staticky…at least on TV and I usually with phone conversations write the person on the other end in italics…and this time around I couldn't do that. Cause…you know…already using that for the telepathy. Which is another thing that I always place in italics. Wow….I am predictable. Also… yeah. Can we just say that Kai kinda just lost a lot of blood? (Sorry Garmadon…)**

 **Don't worry…Kai is not dead! He's just gonna be really really confused when he wakes up in a hospitable with an armed guard standing at attention at the door. Not that it matters since he doesn't have Lloyd so no one is trying to get through him to the little greenie.**

 **Any guesses on where the others are at?**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	20. Usually a Ninja Doesn't Hear Voices

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Nineteen: Usually a Ninja Doesn't Hear a Voice in his Head…

 _What happened? Last I remember was that one of the bounty hunters jumped me from behind…kid!_ Kai strained to regain his senses, a piercing light flooding his eyelids. He could just make out a gentle, rhythmic beeping noise in the background, though he couldn't place it just yet. Stretching his mind, he reached out to his friends and sister…only instead of getting the energetic hum of their minds which their thoughts were supposed to spill out of, he hit a literal brick wall. Panic finally sank in. Jerking his arm, he tried to move it only for a heavy weight to stop him. The beeping noise was for some reason growing more frantic by the second, as if it were connected to him somehow.

"…Kai!... Down!" An unfamiliar voice that Kai couldn't place filled his ear suddenly, though it sounded distant and he suspected that he was missing some of the words.

Kai strained fruitlessly, trying to get away from the voice. It had to be one of the bounty hunters! As if to confuse him some more, a familiar voice that he unfortunately couldn't place spoke up, without the dropped words and sounding as if it was coming from a long way off. "What is going on in here, brother?"

"He's waking up!"

"Really? About time. Two weeks is a long time to sleep, even if it is a coma."

"No…you don't understand! He's in a panic. We need to get him to calm down! Kai! calm down! You're safe for now."

Kai was now really confused. Why would it matter if he calmed down or not? That and wouldn't the bounty hunters rather have him dead than alive? He only ever got in their way! A groan escaped him as he forced his eyes open, only to squeeze them shut at the bright light that was above him. "Where…where am I?" This most definitely was not the alleyway where he had been fighting one of Lloyd's captors.

"Jamanakai Village Hospital." The voice that Kai recognized spoke bluntly, only this time Kai realized why he recognized it.

"Grand Sensei Wu!" Kai forced himself to open his eyes again, this time struggling to sit up.

The Grand Sensei's older brother, Sensei Garmadon, reached a hand out and stopped him from doing so. "Easy there kid. Doc says you're lucky that you ain't dead. You need to take things slow for a few weeks."

"Weeks? What happened exactly?" Kai winced, pain erupting from his side as he slowly laid back down. His gaze flickered to the grand sensei. "I think I heard you say something about a coma?"

The two brothers glanced at each other nervously, before Garmadon spoke up. "I found in you an alleyway…you were unconscious and losing a lot of blood at the time. It looked like someone had tried to kill you Kai. What is going on here? Who will want _you_ dead? And why?"

Kai bit his bottom lip, worry creasing his brow. The only way this was going to work was if… "Can I see your sword for a second?"

"No." "Only as long as you promise not to use it." Garmadon and Wu shot each other a glare, not impressed that they had different viewpoints on this little dilemma.

Wu spoke firmly, his voice final. "You may not have any weapons. Don't worry, too much. You will have an armed guard at all times."

"Seriously…." Kai muttered under his breath, really not impressed with that announcement. It was his job to do the protecting, not the other way around.

Wu spun on his heel, briskly leaving the room. Garmadon sighed as he watched the door snap shut, two armed ninjas standing in front of it. "Right… well since he kinda made that announcement with your guards in the room, I can't go behind his back and hand it to you." Pausing, he peered at the injured teen. "Why exactly do you want my sword for anyway?"

"The easiest way to answer your questions is to show you."

Garmadon peered curiously at the teen, wondering what exactly he could show him with a sword that apparently was something that made people want to kill him. "If you say so. I have to go catch up with my brother now. Need anything and the staff will help you. The guards will make sure that you don't go anywhere."

"Where's a flying ship when you need one..?" Kai muttered under his breath, his voice full of annoyance.

"What?!"

….

Misako leaned against the door frame of the mainly unoccupied bedroom, the one that the three friends and Kai had shared before they disappeared. Now that Kai was back, he was resting on one of the bottom bunks, while the other three beds remained empty. She watched silently as his chest fell up and down evenly as he slept peacefully. It has now been a month since he woke up from his coma and the doctor finally released him the day before.

The pile of blankets on Kai shifted as he suddenly lifted his head up to blearily look at her. "Um…am I really back or was that a dream?"

"You're back. And are still under guard. Can you tell me where my son is…please?" Misako knew that Kai was rather tight lipped about her little boy's location, but anything would be better than not knowing.

Kai stared at her blankly, before mumbling to himself. "I think he is with dirtclod…"

"What do you mean…you think?" Misako frowned, confusion crossing her features.

"Vermillion… always vermillion." Kai began to mumble to himself, taking on a frantic lunatic craze look in his eyes.

Misako backed away, noting that the doctor was right when he said he was sure about his sanity being intact. "I'm going to get you some breakfast Kai."

"No chocolate." Kai was quick to respond in a normal manner to her announcement about breakfast. Which was another thing that had the doctor worried. He could act perfectly normal at any given time as well as completely loco.

Misako nodded, vaguely wondering what that no chocolate thing was about, before leaving the room. The door had barely closed behind her, when Kai zoned out again. Only this time he wasn't deep in thought or sleeping…

 _Go to MisTeaken **(A/N: Pronounce as Mistaken)**. I have the answers you seek… (An unfamiliar feminine voice)_

Kai shook his head, pressing a hand against his forehead. Ever since he woke up from his coma, he has heard that same voice telling him to go see this mysterious person. Only problem is… how was he supposed to find someone using an obviously fake name in a country as big as Ninjago?

 **A/N: Done! There you go Angel… cliffhanger is now no more. Question is…who is communicating with Kai and why do they want to talk to him? Don't worry, I already know the answer to all of that. I just want to read what your guesses are. And no… MisTeaken is not a person…it's a shop. A little known shop. Now the question is do I bring in Ronin or not…?**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	21. Usually a Ninja Does the Interrogating…

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Twenty: Usually a Ninja Does the Interrogating…Not the Other Way Around

 _I lunged forward, sword swinging in a wide arc as I batted away one of the bounty hunters. Hissing the bounty hunter twisted around, an angry snarl escaping him. "No one can stop the Vermillion!"_

 _"What!?" (Kai) "I sense that is the name that they go by." (Zane)_

 _I shook my head, even as Jay spoke up next to me. "That's a dumb name."_

 _Sis flipped past me, nearly reaching the bounty hunter that had Lloyd slung over his shoulder. "Doesn't matter if it's dumb or not! We need to get the kid back!"_

 _I twirled my sword in my hand lunging at a bounty hunter. "You've got a point there…so give us our friend back this instant!" I lit my fist on fire, punching him in the face._

 _"Sorry! But boss wants him out of the way!" One of them flung a dagger at me, which a barely dodged in time._

 _"Boss? What boss?!" I yelped as I struggled not to scramble backwards. I needed to get closer to Lloyd, not further away!_

 _"Wouldn't you like to know?" As the bounty hunter spoke, he kicked my sword out of my hand, catching it in his slimy hands. Ew. I was soo going to scrub that thing when we get back to the ship. No sooner had that thought crossed my mind, he lunged forward suddenly, my sword finding its new target._

 _A screech of Kai erupted from Sis as she turned to look at me, horror in her eyes. Cole sprinted into view, the kid now slung over his own shoulders, much to my annoyance, the kid's lack of complaints meaning that the drugs were already working to keep him out of it. My shoulder crashed into something hard and metal…though it must have been loose since it crashed loudly to the ground as I slammed into the hard concrete. My hand shook as I pressed a few fingers against it, pulling it away to see a dark red substance covering my fingers. That…was really not good. Everything then slowly turned black even as I heard a voice calling out…asking if I was there…_

With a loud gasp, Kai shot up in bed, his fingers already flying to his chest to feel the rough bandages that covered the stab wound. Taking in a few deep breaths, he struggled to calm his rapidly beating heart. The door creaked open loudly, reminding him that they no longer oiled the door in the last three weeks since he moved back in. Flopping back down onto his bed, he screwed his eyes shut and once again tried to reach his friends and sister through their mental link.

"Kai? Are you alright? The guards said that they heard you screaming. Is everything alright?" It was Garmadon, again. From what Kai could understand, he was the one that had found him in the first place and was the most worried about him.

Kai just wished that he would stop hovering over his shoulder. "I'm fine. Just…just a dream." Kai took a shaky breath, once again fingering the bandages covering his chest.

Garmadon walked over, gently pulling his hand away from his chest. "Stop it. It's well on its way to recovery."

"And since you're awake, perhaps you would like to tell us where my nephew is?" Grand Sensei Wu appeared next to Garmadon, startling both Kai and Garmadon.

"Since when you were…" Garmadon gestured wildly, even as Kai felt distress rise up.

"I already told you! Last I checked dirtclod had him!" Kai breathing became heavy, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he struggled for breath.

"That is not a name!" Wu was starting to lose his patience with Kai.

Kai felt frustration surge through him as he yelled. "Yes it is! It's a nickname that Twinkle Toes sometimes goes by!" Tears were starting to stream down his face, which he hurriedly wiped away.

"Stop giving us your accomplice nicknames and give us his actual name… and stop saying you think! You know where he is at!" Wu snapped, causing Garmadon to wince visibly.

Kai narrowed his eyes as he struggled to sit back up. "I have been truthful with you this entire time! And you already know who he is…and honestly I don't think referring to my second in command as an accomplice when we haven't even broken the law, and never will, makes any sense! I do not know where any of them are at this very moment!"

"Kai! Restrain yourself!" Garmadon pressed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to lie back down. Kai slumped down into his pillow, even as a cough tore from him, shaking his shoulders. Turning to face his brother, Garmadon continued. "Wu… stressing Kai out is the exact opposite of what the doctor ordered! We are to keep him calm so that he can rest and recover…before we can question him so thoroughly. Raising the questions up occasionally in a calm manner is alright. But this is ridiculous. He says he doesn't know and for all we know the trauma of being stabbed could be causing him some issues with his memory."

Kai bit his tongue to stop himself from pointing out, very snarkily, that there was nothing wrong with his memory. Wu glared at Garmadon, opening his mouth to respond…

One of the ninjas assigned to guard Kai stuck his head in the room just then. "Don't think there's anything wrong with his memory. He was screaming something about someone having some boss earlier. Right before he yelled; Cole take little boss out of here!... then he went with a loud screech before snapping awake…I'm presuming he woke up after that."

Kai shot the ninja a death glare, noting to ask his sister if he talked in his sleep or not. Wu fell silent, his brow furrowing with thought. "Boss? Little boss? And now it sounds like Cole was never truly a friend to Lloyd. How deep does this crime ring run? At least by the sounds of things there is chaos in the group."

Garmadon and Kai both shot him a kidding me look. "You've got to be kidding me. What crime ring?" Kai considered strangling the Grand Sensei even as he muttered darkly under his breath.

Garmadon glanced at him with sympathy, even as Wu spun around to leave the room. "Garmadon? I am out of tea. Can you please run over to MisTeaken to get more?"

"Of course brother." "Wait… did you just say MISTEAKEN!?"

Garmadon paused, turning to look at the suddenly extremely pale teen that was lying in the bed. "Yes. It is a tea shop that most people don't know about. It's actually pretty good. Just need to work on their advertising."

"Can…can I come with?" Kai wasn't entirely sure if the mystery person meant by trusting a ninja…but Garmadon was the father of the kid that he was supposed to protect.

Garmadon looked Kai up and down, as if appraising him. "Let me get the doctor and ask him for his opinion. I don't really want you to exhaust yourself when you're still healing."

 **A/N: Done! What do you all think the doctor is going to tell Garmadon? Also… I just realized that a certain scene that appears important is just…misleading you at the moment. I need to figure out what they were hinting at. (Case you forgot…there is a scene where the time twins hint at Kai being the key to the destruction of the Guardians/the friends. But I don't know how that is going to work out.) Oh well. I'll figure it out eventually.**

 **Also… still taking guesses on who the mystery person is! Ronin will show up in the next chapter since he didn't appear in this one. Took longer than I expected to have the interrogation and nightmare take place. In case you didn't catch on...the nightmare was really Kai's memory of what happened.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	22. A Ninja Remains Calm at All TIMES

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking… Bold is just me being silly...any truth to it will be determined later.**

Chapter Twenty-One: A Ninja Remains Calm No Matter What...

Kai tugged on a dull brown sweater, impatience flashing through him. He had to get to MisTeaken. If he had to, he would _follow_ Garmadon all the way there. Kai winced as he paused, his hand darting to his chest which was throbbing with pain.

The door opened as Garnmadon entered the room, with an extremely annoyed Sensei Wu right behind him. "Guess what? You can come with!"

"I still think this is a bad idea..." Sensei Wu muttered, glancing off to the side as if to examine the wall.

Kai sank onto one of the bunks, his breathing somewhat labored. "Sounds great. Who're my guard for this little venture?"

A groan escaped the Grand Sensei as he rubbed his forehead. "This is the part that I really don't like. Garmadon is the only one that is going with you."

Kai snapped his head up, staring in surprise at the two ninjas. "Just Garmadon?"

"Yup!" Garmadon grinned at him, in a poor attempt to calm Kai's nerves. This was really happening... they actually were letting him out of the room.

"...and don't forget to check in every two minutes!" Sensei Wu was speaking to them, though Kai wasn't entirely sure what he was saying.

Garmadon waved his hand in the air, dismissing his brother's concern. "Yeah, yeah... I know the drill. Chill, brother. Nothing out of the ordinary...literally. That is all very much the same instructions we've been hearing for weeks now on how to deal with Kai." Pausing, he tilted his head to the side. "Well, minus the part of checking in every so often. Honestly...we're just picking up more tea for you." Garmadon ushered Kai out of the room, rolling his eyes skyward. "What's the worse that can happen?"

 **~Three Hours Later~**

 **Zane winced as a phone rang out, nearly giving away their hiding spot. All eyes turned to face Garmadon, who pulled out his cell with a nervous laugh. "Seriously Dad?" Lloyd muttered under his breath, before quickly shrinking in on himself so that he was hiding further behind Ray.**

 **Garmadon winced as he glanced at the number, before answering. "Wu! What's up?" Silence... "Oh...when was that again?" Garmadon fidgeted nervously, even as Vermillion closed in on them. "Would you believe me that there is a long line at MisTeaken...so I kinda will be awhile?" Garmadon dodged two of the Vermillions, irritation crossing his features. "Yes... I am aware that it has been three hours... oh that's gotta hurt. What? No not you! Kinda in the middle of a stealth mission with Ray..."**

 **"You mean what was a stealth mission until your phone went off!" Ray snapped, even as Lloyd casually pointed out that somehow he and his guardians hadn't been noticed yet.**

 **Garmadon glared at him as he yelled. "Ok fine! The stealth portion of the mission is a bust cause my phone went off and gave away our location... Kai! Stop giggling and help us out down here!" Garmadon hung up the phone without saying goodbye, shoving it back in his pocket.**

~At the Moment~

"Still think you jinxed us." Kai grumbled to Garmadon as they turned onto a seldom visited street. Kai eyed everything nervously, wondering vaguely why the mystery voice would want him to go to a tea store. He didn't even like tea!

Garmadon rolled his eyes as he pulled open the door to the small store. "Just stay out of my way while I get the tea."

Kai rolled his eyes in response to him, before walking through the door. "About time you showed up. Back room. Now you two." A guy dressed similarly to a bounty hunter grunted as he cleaned his gun casually in the far corner of the room.

Garmadon frowned as he stared at the bounty hunter. "Ronin? What are you doing here? And what do you mean by the back room?"

Ronin groaned as he heaved himself up onto his feet. "Taking it that the little guy didn't tell ya... Mystake wants to see him. And since you're with him, you get to meet with her too."

Kai crossed his arms as he stared at the bounty hunter. "Technically I wasn't given a name... I was only told to come here." Kai bit his tongue before he could, _expand_ , on his feelings about coming here of all places.

Ronin chuckled, before pointing to the door that led to the storage room. "Of course she didn't...that would be too easy on you for her taste."

Kai decided against asking what he meant by that. Instead he slipped into the back with Garmadon. An elderly lady was busy sorting the already sorted teas...why he had no idea. Glancing up, her eyes, which were an odd reddish color, latched onto Kai's hazel ones. "Ah. About time you came." She nodded to Garmadon, a tiny smile, looked more like a smirk, crossing her features. "And you decided to that you trust Garmadon. That does make sense... with what you are and who he is."

"What?" "It isn't like I've been hiding that fact. And you said something about answering questions?" Kai ignored Garmadon's confusion, while wondering why he was confused at the same time. They all were very open about being Lloyd's Guardians.

Mystake chuckled as she sat down a box of tea. "You're full name is Kyle Andrew Ivan Garmadon Wu Raymond Smith. You have shortened your first name to K.A.I due to the fact that your parents, a ninja with amazing skills, and a samurai that betrayed her people for your father, always called you that."

Kai could feel panic surge through him, even as Garmadon shot Kai a weirded out look for some reason, possibly about Kai's full name, or that his mother was the sworn enemy of the ninjas, either or. "How do you know that?! I mean...only Nya knows that Kai isn't my full name... but I haven't even told her about our mother yet!"

Mystake chuckled yet again, she appeared to find their reactions to everything she was saying hilarious. "That would be my own little secret. I believe that right before he disappeared, the well-known ninja, Raymond Smith, gave you _The_ _Key to the Guardians Success_ for protection." Upon noticing Kai's confused look, she sighed heavily. "The book he told you to guard with your life. It is called _The Key to the Guardians Success_. Have you never looked at the title? The whole thing chronicles the lives of the Guardians."

"Oh! That old thing... um, I sort of don't have it at the moment..." Kai scratched the back of his head, embarrassed that he had to admit to that, especially in front of Garmadon!

Mystake waved her hand to dismiss Kai's concern. "It is alright. In truth, anyone that is not a Guardian that tried reading it will only read gibberish. The whole thing is written in code."

"Now someone tells me." Kai grumbled under his breath, annoyance flashing briefly through him. He had not known that little detail.

Mystake did her smirkish smile again, before continuing. "By the way... the bounty hunters that have been making your life mission impossible work for the same men that are holding your parents prisoner. Also, you might want to talk to your friends about freezing up on the field. They all need to be rescued." Mystake pulled out a dusty scroll, which she then handed to Kai. "This will take you to them."

Garmadon blinked once, then launched forward, stretching his hand out to stop the transaction. "What is going on here? What is Kai?!" He was a bit concerned about that little detail.

Kai shot him a puzzled look, before shaking his head. "Seriously? I haven't exactly tried hiding it or anything... I'm one of your son's Guardians. Why else do you think I asked to hold your sword? I figured you somehow missed that little detail. And whenever you would ask me questions, I was telling you that last I checked another Guardian, Cole, had the kid."

Garmadon immediately considered struggling Kai...before he recalled something. "But you kidnapped him!"

Kai shook his head, annoyance flashing across his features. "More like bounty hunters broke into the school and almost got away with kidnapping him so the other guardians and I decided that it was best if he was off of school property since that was not the safest place for him to be at."

Garmadon paled greatly at that, realizing that there was definitely more going on that they had originally thought. "Your injury? Was that from someone trying to kidnap my son again?"

"Yeah... didn't know you were that close to the battle or else we would have totally asked you to help us get him back."

 **A/N: Done! Hmm, Garmadon now knows and it is going to be awhile before Wu gets his tea. Oh well, rescue missions take priority over tea supplies. We're getting close... I just need to...figure out all of them unlock their true potentials. And get that done cause they are leaving Ninjago far behind them once they get the kid back. It isn't any safer than the school...**

 **Was supposed to finish this yesterday...but yeah. Couldn't concentrate. Oh well. Enjoy this little chapter anyways.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	23. A Ninja Usually Doesn'tThrowFellowNinjas

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Twenty-Two: A Ninja Usually Doesn't Throw a Fellow Ninja...

Garmadon paused, his heart thudding loudly in his chest. "Where to next Kai?" He didn't turn his head to check to see if the young teen was still near him. He wanted to find his son, and he knew that Kai deemed him, thanks to what Mystake told them, a pretty good essential help with ensuring his son's safety.

Kai pulled out the scroll, bewilderment crossing his features. "Ah... I must be reading this wrong. It says here that... they're in the museum?"

"What?" Garmadon twisted around to stare at the teen.

Kai protested as he handed Garmadon the map. "It says here that its right in front of us...but that's the museum."

Garmadon frowned as he eyed the map, then looked across the street to the museum. "Hmm, Misako used to work there." Squinting, he rubbed his chin. "I think the guy in charge is some guy named Dr. Saunders."

Kai narrowed his eyes, alarm flashing through him. "Saunders? Wait...that's the name of the guy that was the last one to see Mom and Dad... we need to get into his office." Kai stood abruptly, only to wince with pain.

Garmadon shook his head as he stood up, worry creasing his brow. "Wait." He stretched forth his hand, stopping Kai from going over to the Museum. "The museum is open right now. It makes more sense to explore once it's closed?"

Kai thought about it for several seconds, watching as tourists, families, and even elementary school classes, walked in and out of the building. "No. If we go now, we can blend into the crowd. No one will notice us." Glancing at Garmadon, he groaned upon realizing that he was uncertain about that plan. "Part of being a Guardian is to keep a low profile. That way chances of being underestimated are much higher. By blending in a crowd, Dr. Saunders and everyone else will think we're just a couple of patrons at the museum. They won't suspect anything."

Garmadon eyed the crowded street down below, uncertainty dancing in his eyes. "You sure about this?"

"Do the Guardians of Powers?" Kai moved to join the crowd. Realizing that Garmadon wasn't following him, and looked completely confused, he reached over and snagged his arm. "The answer is yes."

"Oh...wait a minute!" Garmadon yelped as he was dragged down to the street.

"Just act casual."

...

Kai stepped up to the old sarcophagus, his gaze sweeping over it. "Yo, Grandpa. Come check this out."

"Grandpa!? I am not your grandfather!" Garmadon spluttered as he slipped next to Kai, mortified that Kai would even call him that.

Kai groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do I need to tell Dad that you're forgetting things again." Kai gave him a stern look, before nodding towards the closest family of tourists.

Garmadon eyed the family, realization flashing across his features briefly. "No... I was just testing you." Garmadon muttered as he moved to stand closer to Kai. "No reason to get my son involved."

Kai rolled his eyes, before pointing to the artifact. "There's a hing that is connecting it to the wall. My guess is that the wall is hollow here. A secret passageway to be more precise, in case this is over your head."

Garmadon glanced first at Kai, then at the place that Kai was looking. "I don't see anything."

"Reason why I'm a Guardian and you're not." Kai rolled his eyes as he moved away from the exhibit. "Come on. I'm hungry. There's a cafe across the street. Let's eat there."

"Shouldn't we set up a wa..."

"No." Kai grabbed Garmadon, dragging him away from the exhibit. "That'll draw attention to ourselves."

Garmadon was being to wonder if all of the Guardians had a thing about being noticed. Wasn't the point of them was to be out there fighting off the baddies so that Lloyd could concentrate on fighting whoever it was that he was supposed to fight?

...

Garmadon wondered vaguely if Kai secretly had a death wish out for him. Why else would Kai insist that they climb up the side of the building that was next door, aiming for the twentieth floor. He hissed in surprise as his fingers slipped, causing him to fall backwards. Garmadon flailed his arms in the air, trying to find something to grab a hold of. Suddenly he stopped falling, dangling dangerously high.

"You sure that you're the one with the ninja training and not me?" Kai smirked from where he was pressed against the building, holding onto Garmadon's arm.

"Kai...If you say one more word, I'm gonna make sure that Wu places you in his classes!"

Kai rolled his eyes as he continued to climb up the building, not at all encumbered by the added weight. "Yeah yeah... except for the problem that janitors actually have better access to places than students or even mentors." Pausing, he glanced down at Garmadon. "So, it makes more sense for me to be a janitor than any of those."

Garmadon huffed, by now certain that Kai had a sound argument about anything that he could think of to ask him. "Fine. Why'd we stop moving?"

"We're here. And just in time. Museum is closing up for their lunch break." Kai stared across the street at the building right in front of them.

Garmadon paused, peering at the same spot Kai was. "I don't see anything."

"Just trust me. The window to the extinct bird exhibit is always left open to air out the room during lunch. I'm going to throw you across to it. Make sure you land inside of the room." Kai flexed his arm, pulling back as if to throw Garmadon.

"Whoa, whoa there! Who said anything about throwing me!?" Garmadon was also beginning to question if Kai's motive in life was to terrify him.

"I just did. Have a nice flight!" Kai chucked Garmadon then, his fingers uncurling from holding him.

Garmadon screamed as he flew towards the momentarily empty museum. Squeezing his eyes shut, he stretched his hands forward...and grabbed a hold of something hard and rough. Cracking his one eye open, he noticed that he was now dangling underneath the open window Kai told him about. Huffing to himself, Garmadon pulled himself up, only to tip too far forward and crash into the room. He had barely stood up when Kai suddenly went through the window and landed on both feet in the room.

Kai brushed imaginary dust off of his pants, arching an eyebrow upwards as he looked at Garmadon. "You know...for a minute there I thought I was going to have to pull you through. And I'm the injured one here!" As Kai spoke, he pressed a hand against his side, his breath coming in sharp gasps.

Garmadon felt his heart clench as he realized that Kai most definitely wasn't taking things as easily as the doctor wanted him to. "Perhaps we should stop for the day..."

"No." Kai shook his head, determination flashing across his features. "We're too close now to stop. I'll be fine." Kai turned and left, creeping softly down the hall.

Garmadon groaned as he shook his head at him. "Is being too stubborn for your own good another trait that Guardians share? Cause if so, I don't like it."

 **A/N: Done! Hmm, they're getting closer! And Garmadon is learning all these facts about the Guardians...and he doesn't like it one but for some reason. Kai also really should take it easy. He's still hurt after all. Oh well... I suspect that the next chapter should have at least Cole show up. We'll have to wait and see.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	24. A Ninja and a A Bomb Don't Mix

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Twenty-Three: A Ninja REALLY REALLY Should Learn How to Disarm a Bomb...

Kai pulled the sarcophagus back from the wall, revealing that his theory that there was more to it than what met the eye was true when a dark stairwell hidden behind the wall was revealed to them. "Let's go."

Garmadon reached out to grab Kai by the arm panic flashing across his features. "Wait! It's dark down there!"

Kai paused, eyeing the fully trained Ninja. "You...aren't scared of the dark now, are you?"

Garmadon huffed as he crossed his arms, fear dancing in his eyes. "I...well...It isn't that scary when Misako is sleeping next to me."

"Unbelievable." Kai muttered, quickly summoning a small ball of fire into his left hand. "I rather do this in the dark so as to not alert anyone to our presence." He sarcastically announced, though he wasn't too sure if Garmadon caught the sarcasm.

Garmadon stared at the flames, shocked that Kai truly did have powers of his own. He was so distracted by this revelation that he didn't notice that the hidden door was sliding close until Kai yanked him into the dark stairwell by his arm. A yelp escaped him as he quickly pulled himself away from the young teen, rubbing where Kai had grabbed him. "Careful!"

"Sorry...the door was closing. Now come on." Kai stepped down the first step, his tennis shoes not making a single sound. Garmadon sighed, before stepping down the steps, the boards squeaking loudly under his feet. Kai turned to glare at him, lifting a hand up to shush him. "Quiet!"

"Not my fault that the stairs are squeaky!" Garmadon protested in a quick hiss, now glaring at his young companion.

Kai rolled his eyes skyward, before continuing down. Garmadon followed him closely, wincing every time the steps squeaked loudly under him, despite being quiet for Kai. This was going to take a while.

~Thirty Minutes Later~

"If we pass another empty cell...I am going to scream." Garmadon muttered darkly as they picked their way through the empty underground dungeon.

Kai rolled his eyes at that, his gaze sweeping over the two cells that they were passing by. Empty. Just like the sixty cells that they had already checked. _Come on guys...if you can hear me, do something! (Kai)_

 _Kai!? (Cole, begrudgingly as if he were half asleep)_

Kai paused, his heart pounding as he scanned the area. _Yell...make noise. Sensei Garmadon and I will track you down. (Kai)_

 _Ok... (Cole)_ A minute later, a shout reached Kai's ears. "Over here! Help!"

"Come on! We're coming dirtclod!" Kai bellowed as he ran off, leaving Garmadon behind. Garmadon yelped at the sight of the fireball Kai was holding leaving him, running to catch back up with him.

Cole continued to yell until they stumbled upon the cell that he was locked up in. Pitch black chains held his wrists fastened tightly to the wall just above his head, and he was already trembling from the exhortation of yelling for them. Kai looked over the bars of the door, one eyebrow slowly lifting upwards. _You couldn't just break yourself out of there? You have super strength. (Kai)_

Cole glared at him, as if he were most definitely not impressed with him. _These chains block our powers...somehow. Not entirely sure how... um... How are we still communicating in our heads? (Cole)_

Kai blinked, confused by that question. "I have no idea." Garmadon shot him a weird look, clearly confused. "We can communicate with each other through telepathy."

"Great..." Garmadon groaned, frustration edging his voice. "Is there anything else that I should know about _my son's_ bodyguards?"

"Our HQ is a flying pirate ship." Kai provided, as he melted the lock off of the door. "Come on. Let's get going. You by chance don't know where little boss is, do you?"

Cole shook his head, worry creasing his brow. "I haven't seen Greenie since I was brought here. In case you haven't noticed, they're trying to keep us too far apart to plan anything even with our telepathy."

"Great." Kai paused, glancing up at the ceiling as if he heard something there. "We need to get going. The guards are on their way."

Garmadon vaguely wondered if he will ever understand how this group worked. They certainly appeared to know more than he did about what was going on here!

...

Cole lifted his hand up, pointing to what looked like another empty cell to Garmadon. "I see Jay up ahead. Shall I break him out of there?"

"I see him too. Go for it." Kai nodded in confirmation, completely relaxed as if he were just taking a stroll through the park.

Garmadon lifted one eyebrow up, staring at the cell that they were indicating. "I don't see anyone in there...ah!" He stumbled as Cole slammed his foot down, the ground splinting down the middle. The cell door cracked and bent open from the sudden powerful mini earthquake. One minute there was still nothing there..the next Jay came bouncing out, his wrists still chained together. "Cole! About time you broke ou...Kai! It's so good to see that you're alright!"

"Hi Jay." Kai chuckled at the smaller teen's antics.

Cole grabbed a hold of the chain, snapping it in half as if it were made of butter. "Come on. We need to find Greenie and the others."

Jay nodded in understanding, already running down the hallway. "Come on! I know they took Z somewhere down here!"

...

Garmadon tapped his foot impatiently as the others discussed the best way to blow up the bomb that was attached to Zane's cell door. "I still think that it would make more sense just to disarm it."

Zane blinked as he stared at him through the door's bars. "Do you know how to disarm a bomb?"

He paused, staring at the teens in growing horror. "Wait...you mean _you_ don't know how to disarm a bomb!?"

Kai snorted, kneeling down to examine the literal ticking bomb. "I don't think it's that big of a radius. I mean, they wouldn't want to destroy their hideout. Zane? Go to the far wall. I'll speed things up here..." He relight his hand, reaching for the bomb. "Everyone stand back! I actually don't think this will work!"

No sooner than the words left Kai's mouth that there was a loud bang as the bomb went off...

 **A/N: Check how many words there are...yes! I can leave it with the bomb going off! Before you ask, I just wanted them to have a situation with a bomb and Garmadon realizing that none of them know how to disarm it. Each one has vengestone chains on them, but their in a different situation. Zane and Cole are obvious. Zane as a bomb attached to his cell, and Cole was chained to the wall. Jay...was being Jay and hiding in the darkest corner of his cell, reason why Garmadon couldn't see him. But hey! He know has the four!**

 **Next time we learn if they survived the explosion or not. Oh, guess we should rescue Nya...and check on Sensei Wu...**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	25. Since when do Ninjas Gawk at the view?

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Twenty-Four: Since when Do Ninjas Gawk at the View?

Kai coughed as he lifted a hand up to press it over his mouth, waving his hand through to clear the smoke from the bomb away. Flames were licking the walls as the fire from the explosion spread rapidly out. " _ZANE!_ " Kai yelled both in his mind and out loud, struggling to breath through the smoke.

"Is everyone alright?!" Garmadon bellowed from somewhere behind Kai, panic flooding his voice.

 _I'm fine! I used my lightning to teleport a short distance away so the bomb didn't get me. (Jay)_

 _What about you Cole? (Zane)_ Cold hands grasped Kai by the shoulders, steering him out of the billowing smoke. Once he was out of it, he turned to see that it was Zane that had guided him out of the smoke, chains still around his wrist. "Let's get you out of those..."

Garmadon crashed out of the smoke, shooting a withering look towards them. "Did you all forget that I was in there... or were you planning on coming back for me?"

"Sorry?"

"You could try sounding sincere you know..." Garmadon muttered under his breath, annoyance edging his voice.

Jay wrung his hands together, staring at the thickening smoke. _We still have a fire to outrun...which most likely alerted the guys that are holding us prisoner in the first place that we have escaped and they will come looking for us. Oh, and to top it all off, Cole's missing and we still need to find Nya and Greenie._ (Jay)

Kai gulped largely to get fresh air, which was diminishing rather quickly, into his lungs. "Zaptrap's got a point. We need to find Cole and the others much quicker now than we did earlier."

~Let's go check on Sensei Wu...~

Sensei Wu frowned as he leaned against a table in the kitchen, watching as the employees at the school scurried about the place cleaning up lunch. "Garmadon should have been here by now..."

"Grand Sensei! The Museum is on fire!" Griffin skidded to a halt, his breath coming out in gasps. "And since there was a loud bang right before the fire started to spread, foul play is suspected and they want ninjas on scene immediately."

"What!?" Sensei Wu nearly lunged at him out of surprise.

Griffin took a small step back, suddenly the defintition of nervous. "It gets worse. According to witness reports... Sensei Garmadon and Kai both were spotted around there before the bomb went off and no one has seen them since."

Sensei Wu paled, panic welling up inside of him. "We need to find them. I cannot believe Kai tricked us into thinking he was still injured just so he could kidnap Garmadon! We have to locate them before he destroys anymore landmarks."

~Back with the Friends!~

Kai nearly stumbled to the ground, pressing his arm across his chest, a small gasp of pain escaping him. Zane was by his side in an instant, concern flashing in his eyes. "Why did you not tell us that you are injured?"

"Didn't want you guys to worry about me. Besides that. We still need to find the others. One of which is _my_ baby sister. And the other is the kid that we are supposed to be guarding." Kai feebly pointed out as he panted.

Cole scooped Kai up as if he were nothing more than a sack of potatoes, turning to stare into the flames that were now encircling them. "Z? Can you sense the others? I already used my extrasensory skills to confirm that no one is down on this level with us and this is the lowest level. I'll carry Kai so that he doesn't strain himself."

"I'm fine! Honest! Just out of breath!" "No need." Zane scanned for a way out of there. "I overheard our captors mention that they took Nya and Lloyd to a different hideout."

Garmadon coughed, pressing a hand over his mouth and nose. "We need to get out of here. How bad can one fire from one small bomb be anyways?"

Kai squeezed his eyes shut, taking in a deep breath, before entering a coughing fit. "Pretty bad. It's all the way up to the museum."

"Museum?" Zane, Cole, and Jay questioned him.

"We're underneath the Museum. Long story. I think I can move the flames to make a safe pathway for us..." Kai narrowed his eyes, glancing over at Garmadon. "Zane? Jay? Make sure to sandwich Garmadon between you two. I won't be able to sense if he has passed through safely since he isn't one of us."

"Sorry to be a hindrance." Garmadon sarcastically apologized to the friends, not wanting to know what Kai meant by sensing the others.

"Apology accepted." They chimed out together. Garmadon quickly opened his mouth, only for Kai to cut him off. "We are completely aware of the fact that you just used sarcasm. We just don't care at the moment."

Garmadon scowled at him even as the flames parted, making a perfect pathway. "By the way Cole... I'm serious when I say that I can walk!" Kai shoved against the stronger boy, hopping out of his arms and immediately his legs buckled underneath him.

Cole rolled his eyes skyward as he grabbed Kai by the arm. "At least lean on me. Won't do us any good if you collapse on us."

~Back with Sensei! Ten Minutes Later...~

Sensei Wu paced around the the border that the police set up, worry creasing his brow. "Let me get this straight... there is no one inside and still no sign of my brother or Kai?"

"Sorry..?" A rather nervous police officer shifted underneath the Grand Sensei's penetrating stare.

Sensei Wu rubbed his face, mumbling to himself. "Misako? Try calling Garmadon. Hopefully seeing that it is you, Kai will hand him his phone."

"On it."

~With the Friends and Garmadon~

Garmadon arched one eyebrow upwards as he followed Jay into the kitchen. " _This_ is your HQ?"

Jay shrugged, pulling the fridge door open. "Yeah? Why are you acting so surprised?"

"When Kai told me that your HQ was a flying pirate ship, I thought he was kidding." Garmadon gestured around the room, his mouth dropping over as he peered out the window the beautiful view of Ninjago City sprawled out down below them. "This... this is amazing! I mean check out this view!"

Jay gave him a weird look, picking up a can of pop from the fridge door, snapping it shut. "Dude... it's just the city."

 **A/N: Done! Hmm, they just missed the gang again! Only this time they weren't in a rush to get Lloyd out of there. I wonder where Lloyd and Nya are being kept...? Oh well, they ain't gonna stop until they find them. And Garmadon is still helping them! And Jay is finding Garmadon's reaction to the view on a flying ship odd. I think he got used to the view... what about you?**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	26. A Ninja Do Not Invent in Spare Time

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Twenty-Five: A Ninja Really Shouldn't Mess with Perfectly Good Technology...

Cole punched a punching bag, sending it flying across the room, where it then crashed into the far wall. _Any luck yet finding the others? (Cole)_

 _Nope... Garmadon is still stunned over the view... and we're just over the ocean! (Jay, exasperation flooding his words)_

 _Meeting in the lounge, mandatory. (Kai)_

Cole turned and left the training room, making a beeline for the lounge room. _On my way. (Cole and Zane) Comin'. And I've got Garmadon with me. (Jay)_

Cole entered the lounge room to find the others already there and waiting for him. For Garmadon's sake, Cole choice to speak up out loud. "Sorry I took so long. I was in the training room."

"It's fine Cole. Now then." Kai rubbed his hands together, before turning to face Zane. "I think its time that we turn IT on."

Zane nodded in agreement, already pulling a hidden keyboard and screen out from behind a wall to activate IT. Garmadon frowned, confusion crossing his features. "What are you talking about?"

All eyes turned to stare at him as if they had only just realized that he was there. Jay rubbed the back of his neck, turning red with embarrassment as he realized that he needed to explain what they took for guarantee. " _Well..._ you see since we all have powers we actually give off an energy that is basically unnoticeable by humans...animals and Falcon can pick it up though... and umm... help me out here guys..."

Zane cut in, his voice flat without any emotions. "We used Falcon's programming to figure out how he could see our energy signals and then used that to build a large scale scanner that basically scans all of Ninjago to detect our various energy signals. It can tell us apart from everything else that gives off energy."

Garmadon blinked slowly, before turning to face Kai. "And we had to go to Mystake to get that old map to find the others because..?"

"It's never been tested. For all we know it'll backfire and explode the second we tell it to locate Sis and Kid." Kai scratched the back of his neck, shifting away form the slowly loosing it father that was sitting right next to him.

"That is still better than a thousands of years old map that a crazy tea lady gives us in the back of a tea shop!" Garmadon just about exploded as he glared at the awkward teen.

Cole coughed, his eyes flickering to the keyboard that Zane's fingers hovered over. "Z... punch in the activation code already. The sooner we get it over with the sooner we get the kid back."

"I'm not sure my son appreciates being called the kid..."

"Don't worry, he hates being called little boss more." (Kai)

"Oh... okay. Wait a minute!"

~With Sensei~

Sensei paced across his office, positive that he had to be missing something. "Nothing makes since... according to the police, Garmadon's phone's GPS signal is coming from the middle of the ocean, BUT none of the boat rental places, or ticket booths, recall seeing them enter. In fact none of the security cameras..."

"Has caught them on camera and we personally checked them and there is no blind spots anywhere. We're probably missing an angle or something. Remember, Kai knew about Garm's phone. Could be he slipped the phone into a passenger's or even crew members, luggage when they weren't looking." Misako interrupted him, exasperation flooding her features.

Sensei shook his head, before pulling it up to notice something odd. "If its in the luggage off a passenger or crew member, why does it now read that its coming from the Toxic Bogs?"

Misako's eyes widened in surprise, before she quickly calms herself. "If Kai was foolish enough to leave it on Garmadon, then that must mean that they... travel very quickly."

"I'm sending our best ninjas out to investigate." Sensei strode to the door, yanking it open.

~Back with the friends~

"Did the ship come with the turbo jets... or did you add that in like you did the scanner?" Garmadon asked as soon as he was done dumping his dinner over the edge.

"Jay added it during some downtime. He was bored." Kai casually explained, as if adding turbo jets that makes the ship move faster than the speed of light was totally normal thing to do when bored.

Garmadon tightened his already white knuckled grip on the ship railing, muttering to himself. "This is good...they can get to my son much faster than any ninja... this is good..." Voice breaking off, he groaned loudly. "Who am I kidding? You all are crazy!"

"Thanks!"

"That wasn't a compliment... and the fact that you all took it as one is a bit disturbing..."

Kai rolled his eyes skyward as he glanced over to watch Zane quickly approach him. "According to the G.E.F. they are underneath that tree over there."

"Sweet! Secret hideout! Let's go blow it up and drive the bad guys up the wall!"

"Jay! You can't do that!" Garmadon yelped, staring at him as if he were crazy.

Cole frowned, confusion crossing his features. "Why not? We can't let them have a base of operations!"

Garmadon felt his eye twitch as he resolutely looked straight ahead. "What did I ever do to get involved with you four..."

"Five. Never forget Nya!" Kai declared slash reminded Garmadon as he jumped over the edge of the ship down to the swamp below.

Jay nodded fervently as he moved to follow Kai. "Yeah... she's the scariest out of all of us, just in case you forgot or didn't know this already."

"I didn't know... and I don't think I want to know!" Garmadon vaguely wondered if the less he knew, the better off he will be.

 **A/N: Done! Hmm... the ninjas have had quite a bit of free time on their hands apparently. Don't worry... I think the ninjas will catch up soon? Um, I actually still need to get them to the Temple of Light somehow to get Lloyd to his Golden Power... and um need to figure out what it is about Kai that the villains think they can use against the ninjas... All in favor of agreeing with me that I didn't plan this out as good as I thought I did please say Aye.**

 **On the bright side, now that I have a wireless keyboard I am no longer having to stop every other sentence to fix mistakes I made whenever I accidentally bump the mousepad. Which is exactly why I bought it in the first place. :)**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	27. A Ninja Forgets to Look Behind Him

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Twenty-Six: A Ninja... Really Needs to Look Behind Him. No, seriously... look behind you!

It was Zane that had yanked Garmadon back seconds before a booby trap went off. "Careful." Garmadon considered pointing out that most people were not calm one bit when a giant ax swings down straight at them, and thus Zane needed his head checked, only to remember that Zane was one of his son's guardians and the way their minds worked...

"I'm still not too sure about the idea that you are in charge of protecting my son." Garmadon pointed out, even as Cole punched, and broke, the giant ax into a million pieces. " _And_ Cole just rested my case."

"What do you mean by that?" Jay arched an eyebrow upwards as he knelt down, yanking up a piece of flooring to reveal that it was also booby trapped. "He was just clearing the path from that trap."

Garmadon considered pointing out the fact that since they arrived here, they've run into sixteen different traps that the four of them somehow appeared to know existed before Garmadon gets a chance to activate them, working quickly to remove the danger, something that just wasn't normal. "Look, what I mean is... I thought that my son's guardians would be normal...there is nothing normal about you!"

"Shh!" Kai slapped a hand over Garmadon's mouth, his eyes narrowing. "Something is up ahead. And by that I mean thirty guards per one of us."

"I like those odds." Jay piped up, already rolling his shoulders in anticipation of the upcoming fight. Once again, Garmadon was concerned about their sanity. Not even Wu and Ray liked those odds! And there is a reason why they were considered the best...

That was when something occurred to him. "Wait...how can you be so sure about how many guards there are?" He frowned, confusion creasing his brow.

Kai rolled his eyes skyward as he slipped past Garmadon. "We're close enough to Nya that she alerted us to the fact that they were there."

"Great..." Garmadon vaguely wondered if they were going to forget that he's there again or not.

...

 _Everyone ready? (Kai)_

 _Dude... we were born ready! (Cole) Ready as I'll ever be. (Jay) What we are about to do is a very great honor for all of us. (Zane) Are we gonna stand around just talking about rescuing him or are we actually gonna rescue him? (Nya, with a whole lot of impatience)_

"You do remember that I'm standing right here...right?" Garmadon glanced around the small cell that Nya was being held in, puzzled on what they possibly could be talking about. Hopefully it was a case of Nya knew where his son was being kept.

"Oh...right. Um...how do we explain this nicely...?" Jay rubbed the back of his neck, glancing over at Kai.

Kai rolled his eyes skyward, before bluntly answering Garmadon's question. "The kid is here...but so is Dad. We were discussing the chances of us saving him."

"Wait! Why are they holding your father prisoner!?" Garmadon was very much confused about that detail.

Kai gave him a puzzled look, before realization flooded him. "You don't know... we mentioned him clear back in MisTeaken but we didn't mention my relationship to him. Sort of. Mystake mentioned it but didn't clarify who he was." Taking in a deep breath, he clarified the whole thing up. "My dad is Raymond Smith, the _missing_ well-known ninja."

In his defense... Garmadon did _not_ faint!

~With Griffin~

Griffin arched one eyebrow upwards as he stared at the... _flying_ pirate ship that was docked between two of the swamp's trees. He was just about to go on-board to see if maybe that was where Kai and his gang were holding Garmadon and the green ninja. If his half of the gang was still in possession of the child. Griffin rubbed his forehead with his forefinger, wishing for his headache to go away...for once. For some reason, he noticed that he appeared to get a small headache anytime he was remotely close to the child, or one of his friends. Even the Smith siblings, and their gang members, appeared to give him an instantaneous headache. A frown crossed his features as he realized that if he was getting his headache now, that meant they were close by...

As if to answer his question on where they were at, Zane and Jay appeared huffing and puffing as they hauled Garmadon's limp body out of a secret entrance. "I still can't believe he fainted! Next time Kai asks him if he wants to go back to the school... let's not give him a choice in the matter. We can drop him off and get to work without worrying about him at all! I mean... it's harder to plan stuff with him around anyways and that is _so..."_

"Jay, stop talking. I sense that we have company." Zane interrupted his talkative coworker, a withering look on his face. Jay snapped his mouth shut, worry creasing his brow.

"Do...we need to get Kai?" Jay's voice was tense, clearly nervous. Griffin frowned, noting the interaction. Clearly Zane and Jay were in on it as well as Cole. The comment about getting Kai, as well as the fear that Jay was doing a poor job hiding, made Griffin guess that Kai was near the top of the command chain and the siblings showing up at the school might have even been a small hint from thier mysterious boss that he wasn't impressed with how long they were taking to kidnap the child.

Zane shook his head, already heaving Garmadon aboard the flying pirate ship. "Kai would simply remind us that our enemy are the ones hiding underground... not the ninjas themselves. Besides that, once we get Raymond Smith aboard our ship, everything should go a thousand times smoother than ever before."

Griffin felt panic stab him, worry blossoming in his chest. Somehow they had found where Raymond Smith was hiding and were planning on kidnapping him. But then... they also said that the ninjas were not the enemy. That doesn't make any sense..? Unless maybe they were more concerned about the one's that had splintered off from the main group. But why do they think kidnapping Raymond Smith is a good idea? It would make far more sense to avoid doing such a thing! Unless... they wanted him to teach them how to fight like a ninja in hopes of getting the upper-hand of the ones that left the group...? Before Griffin could form another thought, pain erupted in the back of his head, and everything went dark...

 **A/N: Done! So...yeah. Griffin caught up with them! :) Don't worry... he's fine. Looks like we got everyone back by now... so unto reviews!**

 **Reviews:**

 **Watcher321: I loved writing him freaking out! Pretty much he is learning that his son's guardians are the exacto opposite of what he presumed they would be like.**

 **Bookkeeper2004: The elemental masters...who else? Not telling you what order though. That would be spoilers. And yeah... you just got a glimpse of Griffin, and we finally got his POV of everything too.**

 **Guest: I love that idea! Thank you for the suggestion... no seriously I am working on working that suggestion that you sent me into the story. I mean come on, what kind of team of heroes doesn't have a backup team in case of emergency? I am jealous of the fact that I didn't even think of that. So thank you thank you a million times a million! I now know why the villains are so interested in Kai! Thank you!**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	28. Technically Not A Ninja Needs a Doctor

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Ninja... Oh what does it matter? Kai needs a doctor!

Ray Smith crouched down next to the now unconscious ninja, ignoring the way the world spun on him. "Did you have to knock him out Cole?"

Cole shrugged, already skirting around Griffin to go help Jay and Zane with Garmadon...apparently they weren't joking when they said that he was not only with them, but had fainted for some reason. "Leave him be. I didn't knock him out that bad. He'll wake up in a moment."

Kai shook his head, uneasiness crossing his features. "Actually... I think that we need to bring him with. For safety reasons."

"What? Are you afraid that he's gonna squeal to these guys?" Nya gave her brother a weird look, sure that she had misheard him.

"No...I just have a funny feeling...I don't know what it is...it feels as if..." "You've known him your entire life, but at the same time you have never met." Ray finished off his son's sentence, recognition flaring up in his eyes.

Kai blinked, staring over at his father in surprise. "Have I said that before Dad?"

Ray narrowed his eyes, staring down at the ninja with a thoughtful expression. "Yes...every time one of the guardians showed up in the shop. You would hit it off with them immediately, ignoring the fact that you had never met. After they would leave, I would ask about how you knew them and you always said that with a shrug. Almost as if for some reason you have a sixth sense for finding the Guardians that no else ha..." Ray froze, staring at him in horror. "We need to leave now." Ray grabbed his son's arm, yanking him over to the ship far too quickly with how weak he was from his long imprisonment.

Cole glanced over at Nya and Lloyd, before shrugging and scooping Griffin up as if he didn't weigh a thing. Surely Ray would explain what he meant by that once they were far from here.

~Back with Wu!~

"We lost Griffin!" Sensei Wu flung himself dramatically into his office chair, staring blankly at his sister-in-law.

Misako sighed, worry dancing in her eyes. "This organization must be far larger than we had originally thought. What are we going to do?"

Sensei Wu was silent for a minute, before flipping the intercom on, leaning over to speak directly into it. "Paleman...can you come to my office immediately please?" Flipping it off, he looked her in the eye. "We send the sneakiest of my ninjas after them. He can gather information and report back here without anyone being the wiser."

"I hope for my family's sake that you are telling the truth..."

~Griffin! Couple hours later...~

Waking up to find himself laying on a soft bed with white covers was not what he was expecting. Slowly, he pushed himself into a sitting position, scanning the room to find that it appeared to be...personalized to him? Flinging the thick comforter off, he climbed out of the bed, his gaze darting to the only door that wasn't partially open to reveal that it was a closet. That door would be his way out..question was...how was he supposed to open it? They most likely had it locked. A glance back at the circular window above the bed, was all that was needed to send his heart thudding loudly in his chest. They were midair. A falcon flying casually by the window being his first clue. Clouds and blue sky when he was fairly sure that he was below deck being the other clue to this. Trembling, he backed up to the door, fumbling with the knob... he hadn't expected the door to open without a fight, dumping him into a long hallway.

Pushing himself upright once again, he scanned the area nervously. Where to go from here..? "He needs a doctor." Garmadon's voice suddenly spoke up from behind one of the doors.

"Too dangerous... there are too many after him."

"You mean too many that want him dead old friend."

Griffin frowned, wondering who it was that Garmadon was talking to. Standing up, he walked over to the door and nudged it open, finding that it was already opened a crack. Peering in, he just about had an heart attack at the sight of Ray Smith sitting on the edge of a red covered bed. Garmadon was standing at the head of the bed, both of them staring at someone that was sleeping in it. Ray shook his head, frustration dancing in his eyes. "No... Just after him. While his death will be a great blow to the Guardians, his ability to automatically know _who_ the Guardians are is too valuable for the enemy. They want him alive."

Griffin felt panic well up, staring at the limp form that they were clearly talking about. That was the key to finding the Guardians! But how could this stranger find the four guardians when professionally trained ninjas couldn't find them..? Suddenly finding himself very curious on who it was that Ray and Garmadon were talking about, he inched himself forward slightly, standing on his toes so as to peer at the bed...and nearly fainted at the sight of Kai breathing shallowly, his face deathly pale.

"Griffin!" Garmadon turned to face him suddenly, grasping him by the arm as if to steady him.

They were talking about Kai...but that means... what if they had everything wrong and Kai had somehow realized that Zane, Cole, and Jay were three of the four and... ah man something big must have happened forcing them to act to keep the child safe. Kai's injury probably was because of his meddling...

"I wish I knew what Kai meant when he said that Griffin was important to the Guardians. I mean we already have five guardians. How many does the green ninja need?" Ray appeared to be holding a glass of water up to Griffin's lips.

Griffin just about choked on the water that he was tipping into his suddenly parched lips, sure that he had misheard that. Garmadon scoffed, crossing his arms as he stared at Ray. "Seeing as this is _my son_ we're talking about...and with what I've seen of the five that we have at the moment... maybe more, especially if they are already fully trained ninjas like Griffin here, would be best."

Ray glared at him, as if he took that as a great insult. "You forget...two of those guardians are _my_ kids."

"And yet...your son doesn't seem to know how to keep his stitches in." Garmadon tilted his head towards Kai's sleeping form.

Ray moved to hover over Kai, gently brushing a loose strand of hair back. "Kai will be fine. If not... that's what full names are for." He gave a nervous smile, though Griffin could tell that he was far from calm about this.

Wait a minute... "Kai and Nya are your kids?!"

 **A/N: Done! Okay... didn't make it to Karlof. Oh well. Later I guess. Griffin is having a mental breakdown with all of this, though Ray and Garmadon are helping him with it. Uh, I think that Lloyd and the others are else where... Now that they are sitting down for a minute, Kai's past injury is making itself known. Which as the only two adults on board concerned for his health. But kinda can't take him to a hospital for obvious reasons. Also...it was Cole that knocked Griffin out! Zane and Jay were slow getting Garmadon out of the underground lair.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Kifo Entiegon: Hmm... after reading this chapter, what do you think?**

 **FaithElf: Shh...don't tell him that though! He's in denial!**

 **Watcher321: They would have left him if Kai hadn't spoken up.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	29. A Ninja Takes the time to heal

**A/N: () surrounding a name means that is who is speaking…**

Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Ninja Heals at the Rate that Is Required for their Injuries...

~Borg Industries Flight Craft Factory~

Karlof hammered a nail in, ignoring the way everyone was chatting about the missing people...missing people from the Ninja School of all places. One of which is the Legendary Green Ninja, rumor was those gone missing were either part of a plot to destroy Ninjago, or captured while trying to rescue the Green Ninja. Truthfully? Karlof didn't care as long as he could continue building jets and rocket ships. Flexing his fingers slightly, he glanced over at his nearest coworker, who was making up a ridiculous theory that the reason why no one has found the missing people was because the mystery organization had an underwater base that they were taking everyone to. Personally Karlof believed that it made more sense that they had a flying ship of sorts... possibly bigger on the inside than the outside to throw people off.

~Back to the Friends!~

Kai cracked his eye open to find Griffin dozing in a chair that had been dragged into his bedroom. Slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position, he bit back a hiss as pain stabbed through him. _Okay... that is a bad idea. (Kai)_

 _Wha.. how am I hearing you in my head!? (A very startled Griffin)_ Griffin's eyes snapped open as he gawked at Kai.

Before Kai could explain about the telepathy, a new voice sliced through their minds. _"All of the Green Ninjas Guardians are telepathic to each other and with the Green Ninja himself. This allows us to have an edge over the enemy that no one can counter. Unless one of us decided to turn evil. (Zane)_

Griffin rubbed his head, before recalling all of his past headaches and when they would happen. "Wait... my headaches. Were they because you all were talking around me and my mind was trying to join in?"

"Most likely. Yeah." Kai shrugged, already pressing an arm around his chest. "Hey, Griffin? Can you run down to the Tea storage room? I'm pretty sure we have some Healing tea in there. One cup of that should make these stitches obsolete in about... two hours if my math is correct."

"Um...okay. I'll see what I can find..." Griffin stood up and left the room, immediately crashing into young Lloyd.

"Hi Griffin!" Lloyd smiled brightly up at him, before running down the hall to where he was headed before they crashed. Griffin guessed by the direction that he was moving that he was headed towards the rec room.

Recalling where the Tea storage room was located at, Griffin strode towards it. Upon approaching the room, he spotted Ray standing in the doorway, one eyebrow arched. "Why do the Guardians need an entire _room_ filled with tea that I don't even recognize?"

"Don't look at me. I'm new here." Griffin raised his hands in surrender.

Ray chuckled at that, before sidestepping to let Griffin past. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"

Griffin nodded, slipping past him as he eyed the strange looking tea leaves. "Yeah... Kai says there is something called a Healing Tea in here and asked me to make him some." Griffin paused, his gaze sweeping the area. "Any idea on what it looks like?"

"No... but everything has been labeled with the same code that the The Key to the Guardians Success is written in, so you should be able to find it okay by yourself." Ray shrugged, before leaving the younger ninja alone in the Tea Storage Room.

Griffin glanced at the wooden plaques that labeled each one of the strange tea plants. Spotting one that was labeled Healing Tea, he quickly picked up the small knife that was there to help separate what one needed from the rest, slicing off just enough of the leaves to make one cup of tea. Wrinkling his nose at the disgusting smell that reached his nose, he left for the kitchen. Hopefully it will smell better once cooked.

* * *

Griffin read through the detailed instructions for making Healing Tea once more, shaking his head. It smelled _worse_ once cooked, and according to the instruction manual for magical teas, he couldn't add anything to it or else it won't work. Sighing, he picked up the warm ceramic tea mug, carefully carrying it down to Kai's room. _Maybe it tasted better than it smelled?_ (Griffin)

 _Oh no... it will taste like cold medicine... and not the flavored kind either. (Cole, rather casually)_

Griffin vaguely wondered if he should respond to that, before changing his mind. He really should get used to hearing their voices in his head before he tries to join in with conversations. Nudging Kai's door open, he approached the red covered bed. "Here you go..." He held the cup out to Kai.

Kai mutely nodded his thanks as he accepted the mug, blowing across the nasty smelling hot liquid to cool it off some, before quickly dumping the contents down his throat. Kai gasped loudly at the hot liquid burned on the way down. "I hate the necessariness of magic teas." He laid back back down, sitting the now empty cup on his bed-stand. "I'm going to rest for the next couple of hours. It'll help speed the tea's magic up."

Griffin wondered why Kai was making it sound like he had lots of experience with the tea, when last he checked this was the first time one of them used the stuff. _A Ninja Heals at the Rate that Is Required for their Injuries..._

~Paleman! Last Known Location of Griffin~

Paleman crouched low, pressing his fingers to the moist ground as he stared intently at the footprints in the ground. He had already pulled his Ninja Tablet out and was waiting for the two prints that he had found to go through the Ninja Database. As if reading his mind, the tablet dinged, letting him know that it had found a match... hopefully it was two. Pulling it out, he opened it to find that the footprints he was looking at belonged to two different ninjas. Griffin Turner...and the well-known, and missing, Raymond Smith. This couldn't possibly be good... either Raymond Smith had gone rogue...or they took him prisoner as well. Paleman shuddered, hoping like crazy that neither was the case. Maybe he was tracking them down just like he was?

 **A/N: Done! Okay... we didn't have Karlof get 'kidnapped' by the others yet. Wonderful. Oh well. Let's see here, I believe that I can get that in the next chapter... Kai will be no longer injured starting in the next chapter...cause you know... magic teas. By the way, this takes place in an AU where the Guardians of the Green Ninja are the only ones that actually know about the existence of magic teas besides Mystake. And they've used the healing tea to deal with injuries that they sustained during training, thus why they know what to expect and how it works best.**

 **Reviews:**

 **CopperHillsGrizzly2010: Yep. It was the telepathy. His brain was trying to connect with the others, now that he knows he is one of the Guardians, he can hear them and communicate that way. NOt entirely sure how soon that will happen... BUT they will eventually hold a rescue mission for Maya. Thank you for asking!**

 **Kifo Entiegon: Ray meant the full name thing as in if Kai keeps running about the place and won't rest like he is supposed to, he was going to use his full name, _K_ yle _A_ ndrew _I_ van Garmadon Wu Raymond. I like to imagine that Ray and Maya had a hard time picking a name so they gave him six names instead of one. Just a head canon though. It isn't canon at all...just for this story.**

 **Blazze Phoenix: Ta-da! They used magic Healing Tea! Kai's totally fine... next stop kidnapping Karlof! I mean... recruiting Karlof!**

 **Watcher321: Griffin is catching on quickly, don't worry. And Kai will be beating everyone up over video games soon... I mean training exercise!**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


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